New Appointments Bring Extensive Ocular Drug Delivery, Strategy and Scientific Expertise to Advance the Sustained Release of Biologics and Small Molecules into the Eye to Treat Sight–Threatening Eye Diseases
Belfast, Northern Ireland – 23 February 2021 – Re–Vana Therapeutics, a specialty ocular therapeutic and drug delivery company that specializes in the development of photo–crosslinked drug delivery technologies for both biologic and small molecules, today announced the appointment of Michael Nash as Chief Commercial Officer and David Shima, PhD, as Vice President of Research and Development. The two executives will play critical leadership roles at Re–Vana as the company develops innovative sustained release therapies for a broad range of ophthalmic indications, including neovascular age–related macular degeneration (wet AMD), diabetic retinopathy (DR) and glaucoma.“I am delighted to welcome both Mike and David to the Re–Vana team,” said Michael O’Rourke, CEO of Re–Vana Therapeutics. “Their significant U.S. and European ophthalmic drug development and commercialization experience, particularly in the areas of sustained release technologies as well as biologics and small molecules, will be a major strategic asset as we advance our product portfolio.”
Mr. Nash has more than 35 years of experience working with early stage, venture–backed drug delivery medical device and molecular diagnostic companies. With more than 25 years of experience in ophthalmology, Mr. Nash’s previous roles include serving as Executive Vice President at Oculex Pharmaceuticals, the first company to develop a biodegradable drug delivery system. Mr. Nash began his career in finance and progressed to marketing, sales, R&D, general management, founder and CEO roles. He has raised more than $160M in venture capital and strategic investments over the course of his illustrious career. “It is a very exciting time to join Re–Vana,” said Mr. Nash. “Sustained release ocular technology has been a strong passion of mine for many years. I am delighted to join the world class Re–Vana team consisting of employees, scientific advisors and investors.”
In addition to his role as Vice President of R&D, Professor Shima will serve as visiting scholar to Queens University Belfast. Professor Shima expressed his happiness and relished the chance of continuing work that he started on anti–angiogenesis research at Harvard University in the 90’s, commenting “Queen’s University Belfast is a leader in this area and I feel privileged to be a member of QUB’s efforts to deliver health and wealth to all facets of society”
Since obtaining his PhD at Harvard, Prof. Shima has become a leading researcher in ophthalmology in both academic and biopharma settings, where he has focused for over 30 years on the role of angiogenesis in diseases of the eye. Prof. Shima has worked as a consultant to numerous ocular–focused biopharmaceutical companies and has held senior executive roles at Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, Jerini Ophthalmic, Roche and Thrombogenics. He has worked in both the development and commercialization stages of ground–breaking drugs in ocular diseases whilst pursuing academic interests as Professor of Translational Vision Research at University College London’s Institute of Ophthalmology. “It is a remarkable opportunity to be able to join Re–Vana to advance the sustained delivery of biologics and small molecules,” said Prof. Shima. “I look forward to working with an incredibly dynamic and experienced team to achieve our major strategic goals within ophthalmology.”
“It is a remarkable opportunity to be able to join Re–Vana to advance the sustained delivery of biologics and small molecules,” said Prof. Shima. “I look forward to working with an incredibly dynamic and experienced team to achieve our major strategic goals within ophthalmology.”
Re–Vana is developing sustained release ophthalmic therapeutics that reduce the frequency of intravitreal injections required to treat a wide range of retinal diseases, including wet AMD and DR. The Re–Vana platform, which includes EyeLiefÒ and OcuLiefÒ technologies, have the potential to deliver at least 6 months sustained delivery of large molecule biologics, including anti–VEGF therapies. Re–Vana’s technology could also spur a new generation of glaucoma medications that may reduce or eliminate the need for eye drops by delivering small molecules for 6 to 9 months or longer. In addition, Re–Vana’s technologies may enable the development of a new class of therapeutic products built on the company’s proprietary photocrosslinked sustained–release platforms. Re–Vana also has secured the rights to a novel nanoparticle polymer–based drug delivery technology for ophthalmic applications.