SAN DIEGO, March 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Ocera Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of clinical candidates for the treatment of gastrointestinal and liver diseases announced today that Dr. Joe Davie has joined its board of directors. In addition, Ocera announced that Karen Church joined the company as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Caroline LaPlaca was named Senior Director of Clinical Operations.
“We are honored to have a person of Dr. Joe Davie’s caliber join the board of Ocera Therapeutics,” stated Laurent Fischer, MD, President and CEO. “Joe brings years of R&D experience across multiple therapeutic areas and is a welcome addition to the board as we embark on the development of our first clinical compound for the treatment of fistulizing Crohn’s disease. With the addition of Karen Church and Caroline LaPlaca to head regulatory affairs and clinical operations, we now have a very experienced and fully operational team in place.”
“We are pleased to welcome Joe Davie to the board of Ocera,” added Eckard Weber, MD, Partner at Domain Associates, Co-founder of Ocera and Chairman of the Board. “Joe brings a wealth of experience in drug development to the board. We are pleased to welcome him as we are about to initiate our first clinical trial in North America and Europe.”
Dr. Davie is the former Senior Vice President, Department of Research, Biogen, Inc. He also served as Senior Vice President, Science and Technology at G.D. Searle, as well as Professor and Department Head of Microbiology and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Dr. Davie has served on the Board of Directors at various companies in the past including Auxeris Therapeutics, Inc.; Beyond Genomics; Curis, Inc.; Inflazyme Pharmaceuticals, Ltd.; Keel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Metaphore Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Neogenesis, Inc.; Stratatech, LLC and Targeted Genetics, Inc. He is a member of National Council, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
“Ocera has the potential to develop a safe and novel treatment for patients who suffer from Crohn’s disease. The company has demonstrated its ability to take a compound into the clinic in a thoughtful and effective manner using a semi-virtual drug development model and I am excited to be a part of the board,” commented Dr. Joe Davie.
“It is a unique opportunity to be a part of a company that is exploring the use of its lead candidate, AST-120, which has a demonstrated safety profile in more than 200,000 patients for the treatment of Crohn’s disease and other gastrointestinal diseases with unmet medical needs.”
Karen Church, Ph.D. has more than 30 years of regulatory affairs experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and had oversight for 27 New Drug Applications in a wide range of indications. She was most recently Global Therapeutic Area Lead, Infectious Diseases, Worldwide Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance, Pfizer.
Caroline LaPlaca has more than 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and was most recently head of clinical operations at Vical.
About Ocera Therapeutics, Inc.
Ocera Therapeutics, Inc. is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company focused on the licensing, development and commercialization of proprietary clinical candidates to treat a broad range of gastrointestinal and liver diseases. Ocera Therapeutics was founded in 2005 by Laurent Fischer, MD, Eckard Weber, MD and Domain Associates, LLC and is financed by Domain Associates and Thomas McNerney & Partners. Ocera has identified late-stage clinical products which have the ability to address a variety of targeted diseases including irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease and liver failure. Additional information on the Company can be found at www.oceratherapeutics.com.
Media Contact: Company Contact: Melissa Hill Laurent Fischer, MD Porter Novelli Life Sciences Ocera Therapeutics, Inc. 858-527-3482 858-436-3900 mhill@pnlifesciences.comlfischer@ocerainc.com
Ocera Therapeutics, Inc.
CONTACT: Media, Melissa Hill of Porter Novelli Life Sciences,+1-858-527-3482, mhill@pnlifesciences.com, for Ocera Therapeutics, Inc.; orLaurent Fischer, MD of Ocera Therapeutics, Inc., +1-858-436-3900,lfischer@ocerainc.com
Web site: http://www.oceratherapeutics.com/
