Notal Vision Taps Quinton Oswald as New CEO
CHANTILLY, Va., May 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Notal Vision, Inc., a privately-held ophthalmic company that introduced the first home-based monitoring system, ForeseeHome®, for patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), announced today that Quinton Oswald has assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer. Co-founder, Barak Azmon, MD, will continue to serve on Notal's board of directors.
Quinton Oswald brings over 13 years of ophthalmic experience to Notal. He was most recently the CEO of Neurotech Pharmaceuticals and, prior to that, CEO of SARcode Bioscience where he was instrumental in the clinical development of lifitegrast ophthalmic solution for the treatment of dry eye disease and its subsequent sale to Shire, PLC. Previously, he was Vice President & Business Unit Head for Genentech's Tissue Growth and Repair Business, which generated over $2.1 billion in annual sales. During his tenure at Genentech, Mr. Oswald also oversaw the highly successful commercial launch of Lucentis® (ranibizumab) for the treatment of wet AMD. Prior to Genentech, Mr. Oswald led the North American Ophthalmology business for Novartis, which, in conjunction with QLT, Inc., pioneered Visudyne® (verteporfin), the first drug treatment for wet AMD.
"We are very excited and honored to welcome Quinton Oswald to Notal as the new Chief Executive Officer, and believe that his unique leadership skills and expertise in the retinal space make him an ideal addition to the team," stated Guy Katsav, Chairman of Notal Vision. "Quinton's ophthalmic experience ranges from leading the launch of Lucentis® at Genentech to raising over $40 million at SARcode Bioscience, and successfully negotiating the sale of lifitegrast, a potential blockbuster dry eye drug, to Shire. This broad range of experience makes Quinton particularly suited to steer Notal through its first steps as a fully commercial company and beyond."
"We want to thank Dr. Barak Azmon, who has been fundamental in building Notal into the cutting edge, dynamic company it is today," continued Mr. Katsav. "His efforts have positioned us very well both financially and strategically to continue our pursuit of life-changing technology for patients. Under Barak's leadership, Notal established ForeseeHome® as the first home-based monitoring device clinically proven in a large National Eye Institute study of over 1,500 patients to detect even the smallest changes in vision related to early signs of wet AMD. The ForeseeHome® system has the potential to dramatically improve quality of life for tens of millions of AMD patients worldwide by catching changes in vision early, while providing practitioners with a real-time indicator of when to provide treatment on a patient-specific basis."
Mr. Oswald said, "The opportunity that lies ahead for Notal Vision is enormous and I am honored and thrilled to lead this next chapter in our mission to transform the management paradigm for patients with AMD. Studies have shown that early detection and subsequent intervention can minimize vision loss and optimize outcomes, and pivotal trials of anti-VEGF therapy for AMD have demonstrated that the best predictor of final visual outcome is baseline visual acuity. The ForseeHome® system has the potential to have a meaningful impact on clinical outcomes, patient's lives, and public health. The fact that ForseeHome® is now a Medicare-covered service reinforces the critical need for early detection and helps open up access to the millions of patients at risk for developing severe vision loss."
About Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of severe vision loss and blindness in adults over age 50. The early stage of the disease, known as dry AMD, causes damage to the part of the retina called the macula, which is responsible for detailed central vision tasks like reading, driving and facial recognition. Patients with dry AMD may progress to the wet form of AMD, in which blood vessels form and may leak fluid and blood onto the retina. Several studies indicate that early detection of warning signs of disease progression provides patients the best chance to start therapy and maintain good vision and a better quality of life.
About ForeseeHome® AMD Monitoring Program
ForeseeHome® Monitoring uses a technology known as preferential hyperacuity perimetry (PHP) to detect pattern defects in 500 points in the central 14° of a patient's retina. Over 1.7 million tests have been performed using the ForeseeHome® device. The test, which takes about 3 minutes per eye, is simple to perform, and results are automatically transferred to the Notal Vision monitoring center and are available to the patient's eye doctor through a secure website. When a statistically significant change is detected on a patient's test, Notal Vision sends a prompt to the doctor to schedule a follow up appointment. To learn more, visit http://www.foreseehome.com.
About Notal Vision®
Notal Vision was founded by two ophthalmologists, and is committed to providing retina specialists with innovative, home-based, technology solutions that support visual health in patients with AMD. The company's ForeseeHome® device is the first FDA-cleared home telemonitoring device that detects and characterizes visual distortion in AMD patients as an aid to monitoring progression to choroidal neovascularization. To learn more, visit http://www.foreseehome.com/about-notal.html.
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SOURCE Notal Vision, Inc.
