SKOKIE, Ill., Jan. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Horizon Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company, today announced the appointment of Amy Grahn to vice president, clinical operations and Iain Duncan to senior vice president of operations.
“Amy and Iain bring valuable operations experience that is vital as we prepare regulatory filings in the U.S. and Europe and move forward with the anticipated commercialization of our lead product candidate, HZT-501,” said Timothy P. Walbert, president and chief executive officer. “During their respective careers, Amy and Iain have been instrumental in the growth of start-up as well as established biotech and pharmaceutical companies and their leadership will be an important part of Horizon’s future growth.”
Ms. Grahn has more than 20 years pharmaceutical industry experience spanning pre-clinical research to sales, with a primary focus on clinical operations. Ms. Grahn was most recently vice president of clinical operations at MedGenesis Therapeutix Inc. in British Columbia, Canada where she was responsible for strategic planning, development and implementation of clinical and pre-clinical development plans for therapeutic agents delivered via the MedGenesis convection-enhanced delivery (CED) platform.
During her career, Ms. Grahn has held various senior level positions at Neopharm, Inc., Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc., G.D. Searle & Company and Abbott Laboratories.
At Horizon, Ms. Grahn will lead all clinical operations activities. Ms. Grahn has a master’s degree in biochemistry from Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and biology from Knox College in Galesburg, Ill.
Mr. Duncan has more than 20 years executive-level management experience in international, general and operations management. Mr. Duncan was a co-founder of Corus Pharma, Inc., which was purchased by Gilead Sciences, Inc. and was most recently vice president of operations at Corus where he was integral in the development and manufacturing of aztreonam lysinate for inhalation (AI). Additionally, he supervised the formulation and development of three additional drug candidates.
Prior to Corus, Mr. Duncan held positions at Pathogenesis Inc. and Lyondell Chemical.
At Horizon, Mr. Duncan will lead all manufacturing, quality control and supply chain activities. Mr. Duncan has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Trent University in Ontario, Canada.
The Company recently announced that its lead product HZT-501 met the primary endpoints in two Phase 3 clinical studies, REDUCE-1 and REDUCE-2 (The Registration Endoscopic Study to Determine Ulcer Formation of HZT-501 Compared to Ibuprofen: Efficacy and Safety Study). In REDUCE-1, 24-week treatment with HZT-501 resulted in a statistically significant reduction in gastric ulcers versus treatment with ibuprofen alone. In REDUCE-2, 24-week treatment with HZT-501 resulted in a statistically significant reduction in gastric and/or duodenal ulcers versus treatment with ibuprofen alone.
The trials were conducted via a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and based on the results the Company plans to submit filings to U.S. and European regulatory authorities in 2009.
About Horizon Therapeutics
Horizon Therapeutics, Inc. is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of mild-to-moderate pain and arthritis. Horizon’s clinical portfolio includes innovative combination therapies in early- and late-stage development that are designed to improve safety, efficacy and patient compliance. For more information about the company and its products, please visit http://www.horizontherapeutics.com.
CONTACT: Geoff Curtis of WeissComm Partners, Inc., +1-312-646-6298,
gcurtis@wcpglobal.com, for Horizon Therapeutics, Inc.
Web site: http://www.horizontherapeutics.com/
