Bay Area's Anthera Names a New CEO in Shakeup

Bay Area's Anthera Names a New CEO in Shakeup December 7, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff

HAYWARD, Calif. – Shares of Anthera Pharmaceuticals are up more than 48 percent this morning after the company announced changes in leadership as it moves closer to commercializing its cystic fibrosis drug, Sollpura.

On Tuesday, the Bay Area-based company announced it promoted announced J. Craig Thompson to Chief Executive Officer. He takes over for Paul Truex, who will now assume the responsibilities of the Chairman of the Board and continue to provide guidance to Anthera’s senior executive team. After 10 years as chairman, Christopher Henney is stepping down from that role, but will remain on the company’s board of directors.

In a statement Tuesday, Truex said Thompson’s promotion will prepare the company for the commercialization of Sollpura and the continued development of blisibimod for IgA nephropathy. Thompson joined the company at the beginning of 2016. Truex said over the course of the year Thompson “has proven his ability to lead and to fully integrate his experiences into the operation of Anthera.”

Prior to Anthera, Thompson served as chief operating officer for Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals where he oversaw the development and implementation of the marketing, sales strategy, business development and the commercial manufacturing for Tetraphase. Before Tetraphase, Thompson served as chief commercial officer for Trius Therapeutics until the company was acquired by Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in September 2013.

Thompson said he looks forward to executing the company’s strategy to “commercialize Sollpura while further exploring opportunities for blisibimod.”

“This is an exciting time for Anthera with new data emerging on both Sollpura and blisibimod, which could transform the company’s future,” Thompson said in a statement.

Sollpura is an enzyme replacement therapy being developed for cystic fibrosis patients who suffer from exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. The drug is designed for patients who are either unable to swallow multiple pills or are forced to use gastric tubes in order to maintain appropriate nutritional health, according to the company’s website. The company expects to announce Phase III results before the end of the year, or in early 2017. Anthera is preparing to begin a Phase III clinical trial for Sollpura in toddlers.

In a separate announcement on Tuesday, Anthera also reported positive trends from its Phase II proof-of-concept study blisibimod for IgA nephropathy. Blisibimod is a selective peptibody antagonist of the B-cell activating factor (BAFF) cytokine. In its announcement, Anthera said patients taking the drug through 48 weeks demonstrated “stable to slightly decreasing levels of estimated 24 hour urinary protein excretion… as compared to slowly increasing levels of proteinuria in the placebo group.” No safety or tolerability concerns were observed with blisibimod during routine reviews, the company added.

Development of blisibimod suffered a small setback earlier this year when Anthera’s Japanese development partner, Zenyaku, ended a two-year-old collaboration agreement.

Shares of Anthera are trading at $2.17 as of 10:50 a.m. The stock closed at $1.47 on Tuesday, Dec. 6.

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