Santen Pharmaceutical Announces the Appointment of Naveed Shams, M.D., Ph.D. as the President and CEO

OSAKA, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., (Osaka, Japan, Tokyo Stock Exchange: 4536) Japan's leading ophthalmic pharmaceutical company, announced today the appointment of Naveed Shams, M.D., Ph.D. as the President and CEO of Santen Inc., and Chief Scientific Officer of Santen Ltd. Prior to this new appointment, Dr. Shams was Vice President and Head of Global Clinical Development and Medical Affairs (GCD&MA). Dr. Shams received his medical degree from Dow Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan, and his Ph.D. in Microbiology & Immunology from the University of South Carolina. After completing a fellowship in Cornea and External Disease at the Schepens Eye Research Institute & Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, he served on the Research Faculty in the Department. Dr. Shams joined Santen Inc. almost 3 years ago. His industry experience spans 19 years across multiple therapeutic areas and includes tenures with Genentech, Novartis Ophthamics, Opko Health, On Demand Therapeutics and Storz Ophthalmics. While at Genentech, Dr. Shams led the clinical team responsible for the development and approval of Ranibizumab (Lucentis®).

Akihiro Tsujimura, who has been President & CEO of Santen Inc. since 2010, will become the Head of Santen’s Asia Division, including China and Korea Business Units. Regarding the change, Akira Kurokawa, President and CEO of Santen Ltd., noted “Under Aki’s leadership, we have made significant strides in expanding our global drug development & business development capabilities in the US. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Global Clinical Development & Medical Affairs Group in the US, and under his leadership, worldwide development of DE-109 for the treatment of non-infectious, chronic, posterior uveitis began in 2011.”

Mr. Kurokawa noted that this change in management structure supports an increased focus on the global development of Santen’s pipeline and the critical role that the U.S. organization is playing in Santen’s globalization initiative. "Dr. Shams is a highly respected scientist with expertise in developing and commercializing ophthalmic drugs globally. His experience as a global R&D professional should prove invaluable as we continue to grow our business worldwide,” stated Mr. Kurokawa.

Dr. Shams commented, “The U.S. subsidiary of Santen will leverage its assets to successfully commercialize differentiated products to meet the needs of our patients and their ophthalmologists. We will strive to accelerate the development of Santen’s pipeline. I look forward to working with our partners, both internal and external, to accomplish this.”

Santen Inc., based in Emeryville, California, is the U.S. subsidiary of Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a billion dollar global company headquartered in Osaka, Japan since 1890. Santen researches, develops and markets ophthalmic products for physicians worldwide. Among prescription ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, Santen holds the top share within the Japanese market, is a market leader within China, and is one of the leading ophthalmic companies worldwide. Santen has subsidiaries in the U.S., Europe and Asia, including its wholly-owned Emeryville, California based Santen Inc. Santen’s global product pipeline includes many more prescription pharmaceuticals in varying clinical trial phases. A detailed listing, as well as additional corporate information, is available online at www.santeninc.com.

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Santen Inc.

Mike Ford, 415-268-9058

mford@santeninc.com