ATHLONE, Ireland - Innocoll Holdings plc (Nasdaq:INNL), a global, specialty pharmaceutical company with late stage development programs targeting areas of significant unmet medical need, today announced that Lesley Russell, MBChB, MRCP, has been appointed chief medical officer. Dr. Russell will be responsible for managing all clinical development programs as well as medical and regulatory affairs for the company.
“Lesley’s background in drug development and regulatory experience at both emerging and established biopharmaceutical companies is an excellent fit for us as we progress toward commercialization. Her experience to further develop our programs and articulate them to the FDA will be a critical aspect of our success,” said Tony Zook, chief executive officer of Innocoll. “We expect that she will be a significant contributor to our anticipated label expansion and product life cycle plans for XARACOLL and COGENZIA, the COLLAGUARD clinical development plan, and future product candidates that we expect to emerge from our collagen drug formulation platform.”
Dr. Russell has extensive experience managing the development of pharmaceuticals and biologics across a wide range of therapeutic areas, dosage forms and formulations on a global scale. Most recently, she was chief operating officer and chief medical officer at TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals where she advanced the company’s lead candidate into Phase 2 clinical trials in parallel with the company’s initial public offering. Prior to this role, Dr. Russell held senior executive research and development positions at a number of biopharmaceutical companies including Teva Pharmaceuticals, Cephalon, Inc., and US Bioscience/Medimmune Oncology. In these roles, she managed staff responsible for a variety of functions including regulatory strategy development, clinical research, medical affairs and data management. She is a member of the boards of directors for AMAG Pharmaceuticals and Endocyte Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Russell obtained her medical degree from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
“Innocoll’s collagen platform has the potential to generate product candidates into the future beyond the two late-stage candidates that will complete Phase 3 studies this year and a third that will soon enter Phase 3 development,” said Dr. Russell. “I am looking forward to working with the team as the company advances through planned commercialization of its lead candidates and generates new candidates to sustain growth for the long-term.”
About Innocoll Holdings PLC
Innocoll is a global, commercial-stage, specialty pharmaceutical company that is dedicated to engineering better medicines to help patients get better. Our proprietary, biocompatible, and biodegradable collagen products are precision-engineered for targeted use. Applied locally to wound and/or surgery sites, they are designed to provide a range of benefits. The company's late stage product pipeline is focused on addressing a number of large unmet medical needs, including: XaraColL for the treatment of postoperative pain; INL-002, a gentamicin-collagen topical matrix for the adjuvant treatment of diabetic foot infections; and INL-003, a barrier for the prevention of post-surgical adhesions.
Our currently approved products include: COLLAGUARD® (ex-US), COLLATAMP® G, SEPTOCOLL® E, REGENEPRO®, COLLACARE®, COLLEXA®, and ZORPREVA®, some of which are sold globally through strategic partnerships, including those with Takeda, EUSA Pharma, Biomet 3i and Biomet. All of our native collagen products—from extraction/purification of type-1 collagen through final delivery form—are manufactured at our certified, integrated plant in Saal, Germany.
For more information, please visit www.innocoll.com.
CollaRx®, Collatamp®, COLLAGUARD®, Collieva®, CollaCare®, Collexa®, COGENZIA® LidoColl®, LiquiColl®, and XARACOLL® are registered trademarks, and CollaPress™, DermaSil™, Durieva™, and Zorpreva™ are trademarks of the company.