ALPHARETTA, Ga., Aug. 01, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Clearside Biomedical, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLSD ), a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class drug therapies to treat blinding diseases of the eye, today announced that Glenn Noronha, Ph.D., has been promoted to Chief Scientific Officer and Jennifer M. Kissner, Ph.D., has been promoted to Vice President, Clinical Development. Both Drs. Noronha and Kissner will assume their roles immediately and will report to Daniel H. White, CEO and President of Clearside Biomedical.
Dr. Noronha has served as Executive Vice President of Research and Development for Clearside since August 2013, leading the scientific affairs and clinical development of the Company’s portfolio. Dr. Noronha has 17 years of experience in clinical and nonclinical research and development and product development with 15 of the years being in ophthalmology research and clinical development at Alcon, Sucampo and TargeGen. In Dr. Noronha’s role as Chief Scientific Officer, he will continue to be responsible for the strategic development of Clearside’s scientific innovation and the global vision for Clearside’s product development to treat sight-threatening diseases. He will also lead strategy and design for all programs, in addition to being responsible for Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance efforts in order to meet Clearside’s goal of becoming a fully integrated ophthalmic pharmaceutical company.
Dr. Kissner joined Clearside in August 2014 as Senior Director, Development and has led Clearside’s drug development programs for macular edema associated with non-infectious uveitis (currently in Phase 3) and wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is currently in pre-clinical development with an Investigational New Drug (IND) submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expected in the second half of 2016. Dr. Kissner has 14 years of clinical development experience for entities addressing sight-threatening diseases in positions at ophthalmology companies such as Alcon and Acucela. In Dr. Kissner’s new role, she will be responsible for leading the Company’s clinical development strategy and team efforts by overseeing all aspects of the design, implementation, execution and management of clinical trial programs.
“Jennifer and Glenn represent a group of gifted researchers at Clearside who share a mission to treat patients suffering from sight-threatening diseases,” said White. “They have the level of experience and accomplishment that Clearside seeks to lead our scientific efforts to complete the development of valuable medicines like Zuprata™ using suprachoroidal drug delivery.”
About Clearside Biomedical, Inc.
Clearside Biomedical, Inc., headquartered in Alpharetta, GA, is a publicly-traded, late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company developing innovative first-in-class drug therapies to treat blinding diseases of the eye using Clearside’s proprietary suprachoroidal space (SCS™) microinjector to reach diseased tissue through the suprachoroidal space. Clearside holds intellectual property protecting the delivery of drugs of any type through the suprachoroidal space to reach the back of the eye. Clearside has a portfolio of clinical and pre-clinical programs using drug administration through the suprachoroidal space to provide a route of access to treat diseases of the back-of-the-eye like retinal vein occlusion (RVO), uveitis, wet AMD and diabetic macular edema (DME). Clearside is currently enrolling patients in a Phase 3 clinical trial (PEACHTREE) for the treatment of patients with macular edema associated with non-infectious uveitis and has initiated IND-enabling studies for the treatment of wet AMD. Visit www.clearsidebio.com for more information.
Contacts Company: Charles Deignan Chief Financial Officer 678-270-4005 charlie.deignan@clearsidebio.com Investors: Matthew Beck The Trout Group 646-378-2933 mbeck@troutgroup.com
