COPENHAGEN, Denmark, June 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascendis Pharma A/S, a biotechnology company that applies its innovative TransCon technology to address significant unmet medical needs, announced today that it has appointed Martin Auster, M.D., as Chief Business Officer. Dr. Auster joins the company from United Therapeutics, where he served as Vice President, Business Development.
“We are pleased to welcome Martin to the Ascendis management team,” stated Jan Mikkelsen, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Martin is an accomplished biopharmaceutical industry professional with proven expertise in corporate strategy and business development. Martin joins Ascendis at a time when we anticipate upcoming catalysts to drive business value, including the progress of our Phase 2 pediatric study of TransCon human Growth Hormone and the initiation in 2014 of a Phase 1 study of TransCon Treprostinil by our collaboration partner, United Therapeutics.”
Dr. Auster stated, “I am extremely impressed with Ascendis’ TransCon technology, the company’s product candidates and its accomplished management team. I look forward to applying my background to help further Ascendis’ development into a leading biopharmaceutical company.”
Prior to United Therapeutics, Dr. Auster held positions in the investment banking industry, including as a Senior Biotechnology Analyst at Wachovia Securities and a Senior Analyst/Healthcare-focused Portfolio Manager at GLG Partners, Inc., one of the world’s largest alternative asset managers. Dr. Auster holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.D. from the University of Texas Medical Branch.
About Ascendis Pharma
Ascendis Pharma applies its innovative TransCon technology, which combines the benefits of prodrug and sustained release technologies, to develop a pipeline of best-in-class therapeutics that address significant unmet medical needs. The TransCon technology can be applied to existing drug therapies, including proteins, peptides and small molecules, to create prodrugs that provide a controlled and sustained release of an unmodified parent drug.
Ascendis Pharma has a diversified and balanced pipeline. TransCon human Growth Hormone is a proprietary program that has completed a Phase 2 study in adults with growth hormone deficiency, or GHD, and is currently enrolling children with GHD in a Phase 2 study. Ascendis expects to report interim data from its Phase 2 pediatric study in December 2014 and top-line data in the first half of 2015. In addition to its proprietary programs, Ascendis Pharma has formed collaborations focused on leading products in large markets that are of strategic importance to its collaborators, including Sanofi in diabetes, United Therapeutics in pulmonary arterial hypertension and an undisclosed market leader in the field of ophthalmology. The most advanced collaboration product candidate is TransCon Treprostinil for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension, for which United Therapeutics plans to initiate a Phase 1 study in 2014.
For more information, visit www.ascendispharma.com.
Contact
Thomas P. Soloway
Chief Financial Officer
Ascendis Pharma A/S
Phone: 415.699.9924
Email: ts@ascendispharma.com
SOURCE Ascendis Pharma
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