BELFAST, Northern Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Re-Vana Therapeutics, a specialty ocular therapeutic and drug delivery company that specializes in the development of photo-crosslinked drug delivery technologies for both biologic and small molecules, today announced the appointment of Michael Nash as Chief Commercial Officer and David Shima, PhD, as Vice President of Research and Development. The two executives will play critical leadership roles at Re-Vana as the company develops innovative sustained release therapies for a broad range of ophthalmic indications, including neovascular age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD), diabetic retinopathy (DR) and glaucoma.
“I am delighted to welcome both Mike and David to the Re-Vana team,” said Michael O’Rourke, CEO of Re-Vana Therapeutics. “Their significant U.S. and European ophthalmic drug development and commercialization experience, particularly in the areas of sustained release technologies as well as biologics and small molecules, will be a major strategic asset as we advance our product portfolio.”
Mr. Nash has more than 35 years of experience working with early stage, venture-backed drug delivery medical device and molecular diagnostic companies. With more than 25 years of experience in ophthalmology, Mr. Nash’s previous roles include serving as Executive Vice President at Oculex Pharmaceuticals, the first company to develop a biodegradable drug delivery system. Mr. Nash began his career in finance and progressed to marketing, sales, R&D, general management, founder and CEO roles. He has raised more than $160M in venture capital and strategic investments over the course of his illustrious career.
“It is a very exciting time to join Re-Vana,” said Mr. Nash. “Sustained release ocular technology has been a strong passion of mine for many years. I am delighted to join the world class Re-Vana team consisting of employees, scientific advisors and investors.”
In addition to his role as Vice President of R&D, Professor Shima will serve as visiting scholar to Queens University Belfast. Since obtaining his PhD at Harvard, Prof. Shima has become a leading researcher in ophthalmology in both academic and biopharma settings, where he has focused for over 30 years on the role of angiogenesis in diseases of the eye. Prof. Shima has worked as a consultant to numerous ocular-focused biopharmaceutical companies and has held senior executive roles at Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, Jerini Ophthalmic, Roche and Thrombogenics. He has worked in both the development and commercialization stages of ground-breaking drugs in ocular diseases whilst pursuing academic interests as Professor of Translational Vision Research at University College London’s Institute of Ophthalmology.
“It is a remarkable opportunity to be able to join Re-Vana to advance the sustained delivery of biologics and small molecules,” said Prof. Shima. “I look forward to working with an incredibly dynamic and experienced team to achieve our major strategic goals within ophthalmology.”
Re-Vana is developing sustained release ophthalmic therapeutics that reduce the frequency of intravitreal injections required to treat a wide range of retinal diseases, including wet AMD and DR. The Re-Vana platform, which includes EyeLief® and OcuLief® technologies, have the potential to deliver at least 6 months sustained delivery of large molecule biologics, including anti-VEGF therapies. Re-Vana’s technology could also spur a new generation of glaucoma medications that may reduce or eliminate the need for eye drops by delivering small molecules for 6 to 9 months or longer. In addition, Re-Vana's technologies may enable the development of a new class of therapeutic products built on the company’s proprietary photocrosslinked sustained-release platforms. Re-Vana also has secured the rights to a novel nanoparticle polymer-based drug delivery technology for ophthalmic applications.
About Re-Vana Therapeutics
Re-Vana Therapeutics Ltd, founded in 2016 as a spin out from Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a specialty ocular therapeutic and drug delivery Company with the main office located in Belfast and a U.S. office, Re-Vana Therapeutics, Inc., based in Tampa, Florida. Re-Vana is focused on the development of internal therapeutics as well as external strategic collaborations with industry. In 2019, Re-Vana secured funding from Innovate U.K. totaling more than $400K to support the development of a sustained release drug. Additionally in 2020, the Company closed a pre Series A round of $3.25M and entered into a strategic feasibility collaboration with a leading global pharmaceutical company for a novel therapeutic. For more information, visit www.revanatx.com.
EyeLief® and OcuLief® are trademarks of Re-Vana Therapeutics Ltd.
