Ocugen Appoints Kirsten Castillo and Prabhavathi Fernandes to Board of Directors
April 07 2020 - 08:01AM
Ocugen, Inc. (NASDAQ: OCGN), a clinical-stage company focused on
discovering, developing and commercializing transformative
therapies to treat rare and underserved ophthalmic diseases, today
announced the appointment of Kirsten Castillo and Prabhavathi
Fernandes, Ph.D. to its board of directors. Additionally, as
part of a planned transition, Frank Leo, has resigned from the
board.
“Kirsten and Prabha bring a wealth of leadership experience and
knowledge to our board,” said Shankar Musunuri, Ph.D., MBA,
Chairman and CEO of Ocugen. “Their expertise will be
tremendously valuable as we prepare for topline data from our Phase
3 clinical trial for OCU300, our product candidate for the
treatment of ocular Graft Versus Host Disease (oGVHD), and prepare
to advance our breakthrough modifier gene therapy platform into the
clinic in 2021.”
Dr. Musunuri added, “I would like to thank Frank for his many
contributions to Ocugen over the years. We appreciate his support
and guidance through our transformation into a growing public
company.”
Ms. Castillo has over 20 years of supply chain and logistics
experience, having held multiple supply chain leadership roles at a
spin-off company of 3M, where she led multiple major acquisitions
and integrations for the company. During her tenure at Logistics
Planning Services, a privately held transportation and logistics
services company, where she served as CEO, the company achieved
aggressive growth plans which ultimately resulted in the sale of
the business to GlobalTranz. She stayed on through the transition
as Chief Operating Officer and was responsible for all company
operations including regional branches in North America and Mexico,
delivering $1.6B in revenue before stepping down to pursue new
opportunities. Ms. Castillo is committed to the advancement of
women and has been named the Vice President of Engagement for
AWESOME (Advancing Women’s Excellence in Supply Chain, Operations,
Management and Education). She received her BS from the
University of Minnesota and her Global Executive MBA from Duke
Fuqua School of Business.
“Ocugen has a compelling pipeline of transformative eye
therapies and I am excited to join this talented board in leading
the continued growth of the company,” said Ms. Castillo. “I look
forward to bringing my leadership expertise in advancing these
therapies towards the goal of reaching patients in need.”
Dr. Fernandes has more than 35 years of pharmaceutical
discovery, development and management experience in large and small
pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Fernandes has held executive
leadership positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical
Research Institute, Abbott Laboratories and The Squibb Institute
for Medical Research. After leaving BMS, she founded and led four
biotechnology and CRO companies as President, Chief Executive
Officer and Director of each of these companies. Prior to her
retirement in December 2016, she led Cempra, Inc. for 12 years as
its founder, CEO and chief scientist. Dr. Fernandes currently
serves as the Chairperson of both the National Biodefense Science
Board (NBSB) and the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Global
Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership, a Drugs for
Neglected Diseases initiative/World Health Organization (DNDi /WHO)
initiative. She received her Ph.D. in Microbiology from Thomas
Jefferson University.
“I’m excited to join the Ocugen team and bring my industry
experience to helping the company continue their growth as a public
company,” said Dr. Fernandes. “The technology platform Ocugen has
developed has tremendous potential to impact the lives of patients
suffering from rare and underserved eye diseases.”
About Ocugen, Inc. Ocugen, Inc. is a
clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering,
developing and commercializing transformative therapies to treat
the whole eye. Our Phase 3 small molecule drug candidate for
oGVHD, if approved, will be the first and only treatment for this
orphan disease. Our breakthrough modifier gene therapy
platform has the potential to treat multiple retinal diseases with
one drug – “one to many”. And our novel biologic product candidate
aims to offer better therapy to patients with underserved diseases
such as wet age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular
edema and diabetic retinopathy. For more information, please visit
www.ocugen.com.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking
StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking
statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to risks and uncertainties.
We may, in some cases, use terms such as “predicts,” “believes,”
“potential,” “proposed,” “continue,” “estimates,” “anticipates,”
“expects,” “plans,” “intends,” “may,” “could,” “might,” “will,”
“should” or other words that convey uncertainty of future events or
outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements. Such
statements are subject to numerous important factors, risks and
uncertainties that may cause actual events or results to differ
materially from our current expectations. These and other risks and
uncertainties are more fully described in our periodic filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including the
risk factors described in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in
the quarterly and annual reports that we file with the SEC. Any
forward-looking statements that we make in this press release speak
only as of the date of this press release. Except as required by
law, we assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements
contained in this press release whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this
press release.
Corporate Contact:
Ocugen, Inc.
Kelly Beck
kelly.beck@ocugen.com
+1 484-328-4698
Media Contact:
LaVoieHealthScience
Emmie Twombly
etwombly@lavoiehealthscience.com
+1 857-389-6042
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