Business in Brief
The latest industry news, appointments, mergers, and acquisitions – in 50 words or less
- John M. Nolan, Professor at the Nutrition Research Centre Ireland, has received the Heidelberg Engineering Xtreme Research Award 2020. The award was given in recognition of his work on macular pigment for vision health and function, and as a biomarker for brain nutrition.
- Biotech company jCyte Inc has entered into a licensing agreement with Santen Pharmaceutical to develop and commercialize its first-in-class, investigational therapy for rare degenerative retinal disease retinitis pigmentosa. The treatment – jCell – will be available to patients in Europe and Asia.
- After almost four years at Avedro, Rajesh Rajpal has joined Johnson & Johnson Vision as chief medical officer. Rajpal said: “I am looking forward to guiding and contributing to the continued development of leading-edge products and technology that clinicians [...] can use to provide the highest level of care to patients globally.”
- Kala Pharmaceuticals has resubmitted its NDA for EYSUVIS, a product candidate for the short-term treatment of the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease based on the positive results from STRIDE 3 and previous clinical trials.
- CorneaGen has named David Rostov its new chief financial officer. Rostov has more than 20 years of C-suite experience in scaling, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate fundraising, and is eager to help the company in its mission to eliminate corneal blindness by 2040.
- Accelmed Partners II has entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to acquiring ocular surface specialist, TearLab Corporation. AP-II has agreed to an investment of $25 million, provided the company delist from the “over the counter” OTCQB market.
I’ve always loved telling stories. So much so, I decided to make a job of it. I finished a Masters in Magazine Journalism and spent three years working as a creative copywriter before itchy feet sent me (back)packing. It took seven months and 13 countries, but I’m now happily settled on The Ophthalmologist, where I’m busy getting stuck into all things eyeballs.
