Acorda Appoints Burkhard Blank, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer (CMO)
July 01 2016 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
Named to Position After Serving as Interim CMO
Since January 2016
Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:ACOR) today announced that
Burkhard Blank, M.D. has assumed the role of Chief Medical Officer
(CMO) effective immediately. Dr. Blank was appointed as Acorda’s
interim CMO in January 2016, and previously served as CMO for
several biopharmaceutical companies, including Boehringer
Ingelheim.
“I am delighted that Burkhard has joined Acorda as our CMO,”
said Ron Cohen, M.D., President and CEO of Acorda Therapeutics.
“Burkhard brings to Acorda an impressive record of successful drug
development and approved NDAs. This will benefit Acorda’s entire
pipeline, including our late-stage development programs, CVT-301
and tozadenant for Parkinson’s disease."
Dr. Blank’s primary responsibilities include: setting strategy
for and execution of development programs from clinical trials
through regulatory filings; oversight of post-marketing studies for
approved products; and management of the Company’s medical affairs,
clinical operations, regulatory affairs, drug safety and
biostatistics departments.
“Acorda has a very exciting neurology pipeline with the
potential to address significant needs in Parkinson’s disease,
post-stroke, migraine and multiple sclerosis. With three separate
clinical-stage programs that may advance care for people with
Parkinson’s disease, we are positioned as a leader in PD
therapeutic development,” said Burkhard Blank, M.D., Chief Medical
Officer of Acorda. “My top priorities are to focus on moving our
late-stage programs CVT-301 and tozadenant for PD toward regulatory
submissions, and to advance once-daily dalfampridine into Phase 3
clinical trials in post-stroke walking difficulty.”
Dr. Blank has more than 25 years of industry experience, holding
senior leadership positions with responsibility for managing
international clinical trial programs, as well as
heading regulatory affairs, statistics, drug safety and
related departments. As CMO of Boehringer Ingelheim, Dr. Blank
oversaw the submission of five New Drug Applications (NDAs) and had
direct responsibility for all aspects of presenting at two U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Advisory Committee Meetings;
subsequently, all five NDAs received FDA approval.
Dr. Blank has also served as a strategic advisor to several
biotechnology companies, leading the submission process for
multiple Investigational New Drug Applications (INDs), successfully
developing protocols for clinical trial programs, and overseeing
communications with regulatory agencies. Dr. Blank received
his medical degree from Universitaet Marburg, Germany.
Dr. Blank has collaborated with Acorda since 2014, first as
consultant to the Company’s commercial and business development
departments, and then as interim CMO beginning in January 2016.
About Acorda Therapeutics
Founded in 1995, Acorda Therapeutics is a biotechnology company
focused on developing therapies that restore function and improve
the lives of people with neurological disorders.
Acorda has an industry leading pipeline of novel neurological
therapies addressing a range of disorders, including Parkinson’s
disease, post-stroke walking difficulties, migraine, and multiple
sclerosis. Acorda markets three FDA-approved therapies, including
AMPYRA® (dalfampridine) Extended Release Tablets, 10 mg.
For more information, please visit the Company’s website at:
www.acorda.com.
Forward-Looking Statement
This press release includes forward-looking statements. All
statements, other than statements of historical facts, regarding
management's expectations, beliefs, goals, plans or prospects
should be considered forward-looking. These statements are subject
to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially, including: the ability to complete the Biotie
transaction on a timely basis; the ability to realize the benefits
anticipated from the Biotie and Civitas transactions, among other
reasons because acquired development programs are generally subject
to all the risks inherent in the drug development process and our
knowledge of the risks specifically relevant to acquired programs
generally improves over time; the ability to successfully integrate
Biotie’s operations and Civitas’ operations, respectively, into our
operations; we may need to raise additional funds to finance our
expanded operations and may not be able to do so on acceptable
terms; our ability to successfully market and sell Ampyra
(dalfampridine) Extended Release Tablets, 10 mg in the U.S.; third
party payers (including governmental agencies) may not reimburse
for the use of Ampyra or our other products at acceptable rates or
at all and may impose restrictive prior authorization requirements
that limit or block prescriptions; the risk of unfavorable results
from future studies of Ampyra or from our other research and
development programs, including CVT-301 or any other acquired or
in-licensed programs; we may not be able to complete development
of, obtain regulatory approval for, or successfully market CVT-301,
any other products under development, or the products that we will
acquire when we complete the Biotie transaction; the occurrence of
adverse safety events with our products; delays in obtaining or
failure to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of or to
successfully market Fampyra outside of the U.S. and our dependence
on our collaborator Biogen in connection therewith; competition;
failure to protect our intellectual property, to defend against the
intellectual property claims of others or to obtain third party
intellectual property licenses needed for the commercialization of
our products; and failure to comply with regulatory requirements
could result in adverse action by regulatory agencies.
These and other risks are described in greater detail in our
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We may not
actually achieve the goals or plans described in our
forward-looking statements, and investors should not place undue
reliance on these statements. Forward-looking statements made in
this press release are made only as of the date hereof, and we
disclaim any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking
statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of
this press release.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160701005293/en/
Acorda TherapeuticsJeff Macdonald,
914-326-5232jmacdonald@acorda.com
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