LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Inotek Pharmaceuticals Corp., a leader in the development of innovative drug candidates to address significant diseases of the eye, today announced the appointment of David R. King as Executive Chairman of its Board of Directors. Mr. King has more than 25 years of experience working with life sciences companies, including having led three venture backed companies.
“David’s significant operating and corporate transaction experience will be invaluable to Inotek as we advance our lead product, trabodenoson, into late-stage development for glaucoma and ocular hypertension,” said Paul G. Howes, President and Chief Executive Officer of Inotek. “We are therefore very pleased to have David join our board and look forward to his contributions as our Executive Chairman.”
Inotek recently announced positive data from a Phase 2 trial of trabodenoson that demonstrated efficacy comparable to first-line glaucoma treatments with an improved side effect profile and the potential for once-daily dosing.
“Glaucoma continues to be a significant unmet medical need, and trabodenoson has the opportunity to provide patients with a valuable new treatment option,” commented Mr. King. “I look forward to working closely with Inotek’s management team and investors to help realize the full potential of trabodenoson in treating glaucoma.”
David brings longstanding life science industry executive and board leadership experience to Inotek. David was a founder of BioRexis Pharmaceutical Corporation, and as CEO led the company to an acquisition by Pfizer, Inc. in 2007. Previously, he served as the CEO of Principia Pharmaceutical Corporation, which was acquired by Human Genome Sciences, Inc., and as President of Delsys Pharmaceutical Corporation, which was acquired by Elan Corporation. Additionally, David has served as a director of several life sciences companies, including Cephalon, Inc., 3-Dimensional Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Morphotek, Inc.
For more than 25 years prior to his executive experience, David was with one of the country’s largest and most prominent law firms , where he developed a reputation as one of the most experienced and best known advisors for life science ventures in the country. Currently, David is a venture partner with a life sciences venture capital firm.
David received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his law degree from Harvard Law School.
About Trabodenoson
Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness globally, and it is broadly accepted that lowering intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with glaucoma is the only clinically reliable means of slowing the progression of vision loss. Current products for glaucoma generally lower IOP by reducing the flow of fluid into the eye or increasing its drainage through a secondary pathway in the eye – the uveoscleral pathway. Many patients do not respond adequately to currently approved products, and up to 40% of patients are treated with a combination of products in the hope of achieving targeted reductions in IOP. Trabodenoson is a first-in-class, highly selective adenosine mimetic for glaucoma and ocular hypertension that acts through a different mechanism of action, binding to epithelial cells in the trabecular meshwork to restore the outflow of aqueous humor through the trabecular meshwork. Trabodenoson has significant potential as an IOP lowering medicine, either as monotherapy or in combination with other glaucoma products.
In a Phase 2, randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled, dose-ranging study, trabodenoson was delivered as an eye-drop formulation in 144 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma. Trabodenoson was found to be safe and well tolerated with very good ocular and systemic tolerability; reduced hyperemia compared with the current first-line treatment for glaucoma — prostaglandin-based drugs, and no iris pigmentation. Patients receiving trabodenoson experienced IOP reductions of approximately 7 mmHg at 28 days (p-value < 0.001) with a third of subjects having a response of 8 mmHg or greater. Based on the doses studied to date, the magnitude of IOP reduction is comparable to the efficacy range of prostaglandins, and superior to that of currently approved second-line therapies. Notably, efficacy was found to improve with treatment duration, and a pharmacodynamic effect was present 24 hours after the last dose, signaling the potential for once-daily dosing — which will be evaluated in future studies.
As validation of its complementary mechanism to other glaucoma products, trabodenoson has shown substantial additivity of IOP-lowering efficacy when combined with the leading glaucoma medicine (latanoprost) in a preclinical model.
About Inotek
Inotek is a leader in the development of innovative drug candidates to address significant diseases of the eye, with a major focus on glaucoma. The Company believes that its lead product trabodenoson will be a breakthrough treatment that can be used alone or combined with other IOP-lowering products because it increases the outflow of aqueous humor through the trabecular meshwork, the primary drainage system used by healthy elderly eyes to maintain normal IOP.
Inotek’s investors include some of the leading life science venture funds, including Devon Park Bioventures, rho Ventures, Care Capital, Pitango Venture Capital, MedImmune Ventures and Biomedical Sciences Investment Fund.
For further information on Inotek, please visit www.inotekcorp.com.