SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Acucela Inc. (TOKYO: 4589) (“Acucela” or the “Company”), a clinical-stage biotechnology company that specializes in discovering and developing novel drug candidates to potentially treat and slow the progression of sight-threatening ophthalmic diseases, announced today that it has hired Dr. George Lasezkay as Executive Vice President, Legal Affairs, effective Aug. 24.
Dr. Lasezkay will head up Acucela’s legal team and be the primary legal advisor to CEO Ryo Kubota and the rest of the Acucela Executive Team. He will manage all aspects of the Company’s legal matters, including legal aspects of the Company’s strategic partnerships and alliances, risk management and compliance. He will also actively contribute to the development and execution of corporate alliance strategy as part of the Executive Team.
“As Acucela expands its position in ophthalmic healthcare, Dr. Lasezkay provides us with strategic legal advice based on his deep and wide-ranging expertise in the structuring and management of strategic partnerships and corporate strategy,” said Ryo Kubota, MD, PhD, Chairman, President and CEO of Acucela. “He joins the Company not just with experience at the highest levels of the biotech and pharmaceutical industries but also in companies operating in global markets and in the development of treatments for eye disorders.”
Dr. Lasezkay comes to Acucela after serving 12 years as president of HorizonPharma Group, a consultancy practice that advises life sciences companies on corporate strategy, strategic partnerships and business development. He has also served on the boards of a number of U.S. and European biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, both public and private, including several focused on ophthalmic diseases. He currently is an adjunct professor of law at the University of San Diego School of Law.
Dr. Lasezkay had a 13-year career at Allergan, the global pharmaceutical and medical aesthetics company, including seven years in its legal department, last serving as its Assistant General Counsel, and then six years as the head of Allergan’s Corporate Development group and a member of the Allergan Executive Management Committee. He participated in, and supervised, the negotiation of more than 60 acquisitions, alliances and other collaborations, including an instrumental role in structuring the Allergan Ligand Retinoid Therapeutics joint venture that won the Recombinant Capital Breakthrough Biotechnology Alliance award in 1997.
Dr. Lasezkay earned B.S. Pharmacy and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo and his law degree from the University of Southern California. He also earned a certificate in alternative dispute resolution from the Straus Institute of Dispute Resolution of the Pepperdine University School of Law.
“So much of being a dynamic biotech company is having a full awareness of the legal landscape as we seek new strategic partnerships and new technology opportunities,” Dr. Lasezkay said. “I look forward to taking a leadership role in legal affairs, strategic partnering and alliance management to help Acucela continue to grow.”
About Acucela Inc.
Acucela Inc. (www.acucela.com or www.acucela.jp) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that specializes in discovering and developing novel drug candidates to potentially treat and slow the progression of sight-threatening ophthalmic diseases, which could impact millions of individuals worldwide. Acucela currently has the following co-development agreements with Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.: emixustat hydrochloride, its lead investigational drug candidate for geographic atrophy associated with dry age-related macular degeneration based on Acucela’s proprietary visual cycle modulation technology; and OPA-6566, an investigational compound originating from Otsuka Pharmaceutical for the treatment of ocular hypertension and glaucoma.
Cautionary Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Words such as “will,” “believe,” expect,” “intend,” “plan” and “should” as well as similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include Acucela’s expectations regarding corporate development activities and the ultimate success of the enterprise. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the risk that our investigational product candidates will not demonstrate the expected benefits, the willingness of our collaboration partner to continue to co-develop our investigational product candidates, the risk of delays in our expected clinical trials, the risk that new developments in the intensely competitive ophthalmic pharmaceutical market require changes in our clinical trial plans or limit the potential benefits of our investigational product candidates, and other risks and uncertainties inherent in the process of discovering and developing therapeutics that demonstrate safety and efficacy. For a detailed discussion of these and other risk factors, please refer to the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available on the Company’s investor relations Web site (http://ir.acucela.com/) and on the SEC’s Web site (http://www.sec.gov).
