October 7, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
SAN DIEGO – Alvin Shih, Retrophin Inc. ’s head of research and development is departing the company to helm an unnamed startup biotechnology company, the company announced this morning.
Shih will remain with Retrophin until the end of October, but his role with the company will not completely end. In its announcement, Retrophin said Shih will continue to serve as a consultant for the company for an unspecified amount of time. Retrophin tapped Stephen Aselage, the company’s interim chief executive officer, to also helm the company’s research and development arm until Shih’s successor can be found. The company has initiated a search for Shih’s replacement.
Aselage touted Shih’s work, saying he made tremendous contributions to the growth of the company pipeline. He said Shih was leaving the company in a strong position to continue to advance sparsentan and RE-024. Sparsentan is the company’s experimental treatment for focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, rare kidney disorder that often leads to end-stage renal disease. RE-024 is Retrophin’s experimental replacement therapy targeting the underlying cause of pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration (PKAN), a life-threatening neurological disorder that typically begins in early childhood. RE-024 was granted orphan drug designation and fast track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
In its announcement, Retrophin did not provide any hints as to what type of company Shih will helm, nor did it indicate where the company will be.
“While I am sad to leave Retrophin, I’m incredibly proud of the progress we have made towards delivering new therapies for rare disease patients,” Shih said in a statement. “I look forward to contributing to Retrophin’s future success as an external advisor.”
Shih has served as head of Retrophin’s research and development division since June 2014. Prior to that he spent four years as the chief operating officer of Pfizer ’s rare disease research unit. Prior to Pfizer, Dr. Shih was a senior engagement manager for L.E.K. Consulting, LLC, where he provided life sciences companies with strategic counsel on M&A transactions and growth development.
At the time he was hired by Retrophin, former CEO Martin Shkreli said Shih’s “rare disease R&D experience and business acumen will be invaluable as we continue to advance and grow our pipeline of drugs for patients suffering from serious diseases that currently have no viable treatment options.” Shkreli is of course no longer with Retrophin, having been discharged from the company and currently faces a lawsuit from the company over mismanagement of funds.
In August, Retrophin added to its leadership team with the appointment of Neil McFarlane as the company’s new chief operating officer. Prior to joining Retrophin, McFarlane held positions of increasing responsibility at leading biopharmaceutical companies, including UCB and Sanofi Genzyme . During his tenure at UCB McFarlane served as vice president and general manager of Immunology.
