NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UroGen Pharma Ltd. (Nasdaq:URGN), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing treatments to address unmet needs in the field of urology, with a focus on uro-oncology, today announced the appointment of Elizabeth (Liz) Barrett as President and Chief Executive Officer effective immediately. She will also serve on the Company’s Board of Directors. Ms. Barrett, who will be based in New York, replaces Ron Bentsur. Mr. Bentsur will step down from his position at the Company but will continue to serve in an advisory capacity as needed to ensure a smooth transition.
Ms. Barrett will present at the 37th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Thursday, January 10, 2019 at 10:30 a.m. Pacific Time. The event will be held in San Francisco at the Westin St. Francis.
Ms. Barrett brings over 30 years of unique experience across oncology, specialty care, surgical franchises, and consumer marketing in multiple geographic regions. Her demonstrated expertise in pharmaceutical development and commercialization of oncology products will be critical as UroGen transforms into a leading commercial-stage entity and delivers potentially paradigm-shifting products to oncology patients in the urological setting.
“Liz has proven to be an exceptional leader with a well-established track record in oncology and the vision and experience to lead UroGen as it prepares for the expected launch of UGN-101, the Company’s first potential product, in 2019,” said Arie Belldegrun, M.D., FACS, Chairman of the Board of UroGen. “Through the persistence and dedication of Ron Bentsur and the team, UroGen has become a leader in uro-oncology, and has energized much needed innovation in devastating urologic diseases that are often overlooked. We thank Ron for his commitment to UroGen and are pleased to support him in his future endeavors to focus on innovative early stage life sciences companies.”
Ms. Barrett was CEO of Novartis Oncology and a member of the Executive Committee of Novartis. She previously served as Global President of Oncology at Pfizer Inc. At Pfizer, she held numerous leadership positions, including President of Global Innovative Pharma for Europe, President of the Specialty Care Business Unit for North America, and President of United States Oncology. Prior to Pfizer, she was Vice President and General Manager of the Oncology Business Unit at Cephalon Inc. Ms. Barrett also worked at Johnson & Johnson. She started her career at Kraft Foods Group Inc. Ms. Barrett holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Louisiana and a Master of Business Administration from Saint Joseph’s University.
“I’ve built a career with some of the best companies in the industry and have had the opportunity to be entrepreneurial within each of those positions. This is an opportune time to take that experience and apply it to a smaller biotech company on the cusp of transformation,” said Ms. Barrett. “UroGen is well positioned to firmly establish the viability of its RTGel platform as the Company completes its first NDA submission to the FDA and prepares for potential commercialization later this year. I cannot think of a more exciting time to join UroGen and work with its outstanding team as we begin to revolutionize uro-oncology and beyond.”
“I’ve had the great honor of leading UroGen through its early stages of development, its initial public offering, completed enrollment of our first pivotal trial, and now, initiation of our first rolling NDA submission,” said Ron Bentsur. “I have no doubt that Liz will be a great leader during UroGen’s next stage and will have the experience needed to build on our clinical success and prepare the company for commercialization. I look forward to supporting the Company’s ongoing success.”
UroGen recently announced its initiation of the UGN-101 Rolling NDA Submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The completed submission is expected in mid-2019, with potential approval anticipated in 2019. The Company plans to present the topline data in January 2019.
A live audio webcast of the J.P. Morgan presentation will be available on the Investors section of UroGen’s website www.urogen.com. A replay of the webcast will be available on the website for approximately 30 days.
About UroGen Pharma Ltd.
UroGen Pharma Ltd. (Nasdaq:URGN) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing advanced non-surgical treatments to address unmet needs in the field of urology, with a focus on uro-oncology. UroGen has developed RTGel™, a proprietary sustained release, hydrogel-based platform technology that has the potential to improve therapeutic profiles of existing drugs. UroGen’s sustained release technology is designed to enable longer exposure of the urinary tract tissue to medications, making local therapy a potentially more effective treatment option. UroGen’s lead product candidates, UGN-101 and UGN-102, are designed to potentially remove tumors by non-surgical means and to treat several forms of non-muscle invasive urothelial cancer, including low-grade upper tract urothelial carcinoma and bladder cancer, respectively. UroGen is headquartered in New York, NY with operations in Los Angeles, CA and Israel.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including with respect to the timing of submission and completion of a rolling NDA for UGN-101, the potential regulatory approval and commercialization of UGN-101, and the effects of Ms. Barrett joining UroGen Pharma, which statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including, but not limited to: the timing and success of clinical trials and potential complications thereof; the ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval; the labeling for any approved product; the scope, progress and expansion of developing and commercializing UroGen Pharma’s product candidates; the size and growth of the market(s) therefor and the rate and degree of market acceptance thereof vis-à-vis alternative therapies; and UroGen Pharma’s ability to attract or retain key management, members of the board of directors and personnel. In light of these risks and uncertainties, and other risks and uncertainties that are described in the Risk Factors section of UroGen Pharma’s Form 20-F filed with the SEC on March 15, 2018 and other filings that UroGen Pharma makes with the SEC from time to time (which are available at http://www.sec.gov), the events and circumstances discussed in such forward-looking statements may not occur, and UroGen Pharma’s actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied thereby. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are based on information available to UroGen Pharma as of the date of this release.