NEW HOPE, Pa., Oct. 10, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Orchestra BioMed, Inc. (“Orchestra BioMed” or the “Company”), a biomedical innovation company developing high impact, high value, evidence-based therapeutic solutions for medical procedures that address major medical conditions, announced today that it has appointed three key members to its management team. Joining the Company are Ron Dadino as Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development & Operations, Cardiovascular Interventions; Gregory Kopia, Ph.D., CMPP as Director, Pre-Clinical Development, Cardiovascular Interventions; and Ziv Belsky as Vice President, Research & Development, Cardiac Neuromodulation.
“We have been working diligently to ensure we have the right team in place as we continue to advance the development of our pipeline of highly differentiated late-stage products. We are pleased to welcome Ron, Greg and Ziv and believe that their experience and expertise in their respective fields will be instrumental in advancing our two lead programs, the Virtue®Sirolimus-eluting Balloon (SEB) for coronary artery disease and BackBeat® Cardiac Neuromodulation Therapy (CNT) for hypertension,” commented Darren R. Sherman, President and Chief Operating Officer of Orchestra BioMed.
Mr. Dadino joins Orchestra BioMed with more than 30 years of pharmaceutical experience and having commercialized over 20 pharmaceutical and combination products. Mr. Dadino most recently served as Vice President of Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing for Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:ACRS), where he assisted in bringing the company’s first product to market. Prior to Aclaris, Mr. Dadino was President of Dadino Consulting, LLC, where he provided product development, technical operations, manufacturing and commercialization consulting services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies. During his career, Mr. Dadino spent 13 years with Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), where he served as Vice President, Development and Technical Operations from 2011-2013, and as Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development, Technical Operations and CMC from 2001-2011, where he was responsible for development of pharmaceutical attributes for drug/device combination products including the CYPHER® Sirolimus-eluting stent. Prior to J&J, Mr. Dadino served as Senior Director, Technical Operations, for Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Dadino holds an M.S. in Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs from Temple University and a B.S. in Pharmacy from University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.
Dr. Kopia joins the Orchestra BioMed team with more than 20 years’ experience in the preclinical evaluation of local therapies for cardiovascular disease encompassing both drugs and devices. Dr. Kopia most recently worked in medical communications at PharmaWrite, LLC and served as the Principal of Kopia Consulting LLC, where he provided preclinical development consulting services to companies developing cardiovascular drugs and devices. Since 2009, Dr. Kopia has provided consulting services to Caliber Therapeutics related to the development of Virtue® SEB. Prior to this, he was a Research Fellow for Cordis, a Johnson & Johnson company which was subsequently sold to Cardinal Health for $1.9 billion. As a Research Fellow at the Cordis Corporation, Dr. Kopia was involved in extensive work in the area of safety and efficacy of vascular devices used for post-angioplasty restenosis including stents, balloon delivery catheters, and drug-device combinations. He is one of the recognized inventors of CYPHER®, the first commercially successful drug-eluting stent, and was deeply involved with the early research and development of this milestone therapeutic device. As a result of this work, Dr. Kopia was co-recipient of the prestigious Johnson Medal for the discovery and development of the CYPHER® sirolimus-eluting coronary stent. Prior to Cordis, he served as Director of Pharmacology from 1989 to 1995 for Zynaxis Cell Science, Inc., a localized drug delivery development company, as well as Assistant Director, Pharmacology for GlaxoSmithKline from 1987 to 1989. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship in Pharmacology at the University of Michigan Medical School, received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and B.A. in Biology from Gettysburg College.
Mr. Belsky joins Orchestra BioMed having most recently served as Chief Technology Officer for NewPace Ltd., a cardiac rhythm management company based in Israel. Over the course of his career, Mr. Belsky has established a strong track record as a serial entrepreneur helping to found, and serving as Chief Executive Officer for, a number of start-up medical innovation companies in Israel including: Novogate Medical Ltd., a company focused on development of novel means of enabling thoraco-apical access for beating heart procedures; Juvenis, a biomaterials company focused on aesthetic and reconstructive surgical procedures; SphinxTech Ltd., a research and development company focused on medical devices for the treatment of fecal incontinence; and E-Pill Pharma Ltd., a company developing an oral drug delivery platform to administer peptides and large molecules, small molecules, as well as low bioavailability drugs. Mr. Belsky has also served as Director, Business Development from for Wavion Ltd., and Product Manager for Impulse Dynamics Ltd., a medical device company developing an implantable cardiac stimulator for the treatment of heart failure that was co-founded by Yuval Mika, Ph.D., Orchestra BioMed’s General Manager and CTO of Cardiac Neuromodulation. Mr. Belsky received his MBA from Heriot-Watt University, his MSc in Electrical Engineering from Tel Aviv University, and his BSc in Physics and Mathematics from Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
“As we execute on our business strategy to optimize the clinical impact and commercial value of our products, it is critical that we leverage key relationships and work closely with established leaders in the industry. Each of these individuals have proven to have a strong track record and will bring key leadership and direction as we advance our products and drive Orchestra BioMed through its next phase of growth,” added David Hochman, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Orchestra BioMed.
About Orchestra BioMed™
Orchestra BioMed, Inc. is a biomedical innovation company focused on developing high impact, high value, evidence-based therapeutic solutions for medical procedures address major medical conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and hypertension, affect large patient populations and drive a significant portion of healthcare costs. Orchestra BioMed’s business strategy is to leverage partnerships with established global market leaders to optimize the clinical impact and commercial value of its products. Orchestra BioMed expects to generate long-term, high margin cash flow from royalties, revenue sharing, as well as licensing and development payments from strategic partners that secure commercial rights to Orchestra BioMed-developed products. Orchestra BioMed’s core innovation and development expertise are in the areas of drug delivery, interventional devices, bioelectronics and neuromodulation. The Company’s lead cardiovascular therapies, which were developed from concept stage by Orchestra BioMed’s wholly-owned subsidiaries, are highly proprietary and have demonstrated promising clinical results in addressing specific high-need patient populations with artery disease and hypertension. The Virtue® Sirolimus-Eluting Balloon (SEB), is a novel, first-in-class device that delivers delayed-release Sirolimus, the proven gold-standard drug for preventing restenosis of treated arteries, to the vessel wall during balloon angioplasty without the need for a permanent implant. BackBeat® Cardiac Neuromodulation Therapy (CNT), is a patented implantable cardiac stimulation-based treatment for hypertension that immediately and substantially lowers blood pressure while simultaneously modulating autonomic nervous system responses that normally drive and maintain blood pressure higher.
Forward Looking Statements
Some of the statements made herein constitute forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future financial and other performance or anticipated plans and are identified by words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “could,” “scheduled,” “plan,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “potential,” “propose” and “continue” or negative variants of such terms. These and similar forward-looking statements discuss the Company’s future expectations and plans. The Company operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. Given these risks and uncertainties, the Company cautions against placing undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These statements are only estimates of future performance. Actual performance or events may not meet such expectations or estimates and may, in fact, differ materially.
Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements made herein are reasonable, the Company cannot and does not guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Moreover, the Company does not assume any responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of such forward-looking statements in the future. The Company does not plan and, subject to applicable law, undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements made herein after the date hereof in order to conform such statements to actual results.
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Source: Orchestra BioMed, Inc.
