– CANADA, Laval – Acasti Pharma Inc. (Nasdaq: ACST | TSX: ACST) today announced the appointment of Michael Derby to its Board of Directors.
“Michael is a successful pharma industry leader whose extensive involvement in drug repurposing and his passion for developing and commercializing innovative products that positively impact patients’ lives will prove to be invaluable as we advance our three lead clinical asset. We anticipate benefitting from his perspective and broad experiences,” said Board Chairman, Dr. Roddy Carter.
About Michael L. Derby
Mr. Derby brings more than two decades of experience and a proven track record within the biopharmaceutical industry with particular expertise in strategic drug repurposing. Having founded or co-founded seven biopharmaceutical companies, he most recently launched TardiMed Sciences LLC, company creation and investment firm in the life sciences space. TardiMed has formed, capitalized, and advanced three biopharmaceutical companies — Timber Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: TMBR), PaxMedica, Inc., and Anker Pharmaceuticals LLC — through Phase 2 clinical trials. Mr. Derby served as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors for all three companies. Before TardiMed, Mr. Derby co-founded Castle Creek Pharmaceuticals, which he built into a multi-product, a late clinical-stage company focused on treating rare and debilitating dermatologic conditions. He also founded Norphan Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of drugs for orphan neurologic diseases, which he led through its early stages before selling the company to Marathon Pharmaceuticals. Before founding and managing life sciences companies, Mr. Derby was with an early-stage private equity and investment advisory firm, Centerstone Partners, and was a venture capitalist with EGS Healthcare Capital Partners.
“Acasti is at an exciting time in its development and presents a unique opportunity with three clinical drug candidates, all targeting rare and orphan diseases. With novel drug formulations, a diversified pipeline, and a strong patent portfolio, I look forward to supporting the progress of Acasti to help patients suffering from the devastating yet underserved medical conditions addressed by Acasti’s pipeline of drug candidates,” said Michael Derby.
Mr. Derby holds an M.B.A., with distinction, from New York University’s Stern School of Business, an M.S. in Neuroscience from the University of Rochester, and a B.S., with honors, from Johns Hopkins University, where he was a Beneficial Hodson merit scholar and member of the Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society.
About Acasti
Acasti is an advanced-stage specialty pharma company with drug delivery technologies and drug candidates addressing rare and orphan diseases. Acasti’s novel drug delivery technologies have the potential to improve the performance of currently marketed drugs by achieving faster onset of action, enhanced efficacy, reduced side effects, and more convenient drug delivery—all of which could help to increase treatment compliance and improve patient outcomes.
Acasti’s three lead clinical assets have each been granted Orphan Drug Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which provides the assets with seven years of marketing exclusivity post-launch in the United States, and additional intellectual property protection with over 40 granted and pending patents. Acasti’s lead clinical assets target underserved orphan diseases:
- GTX-104, an intravenous infusion targeting Subarachnoid Hemorrhage, a rare and life-threatening medical emergency in which bleeding occurs over the surface of the brain in the subarachnoid space between the brain and skull;
- GTX-102, an oral mucosal spray targeting Ataxia-telangiectasia, a progressive, neurodegenerative genetic disease that primarily affects children, causing severe disability, and for which no treatment currently exists;
- GTX-101, a topical spray, targeting Postherpetic Neuralgia, a persistent and often debilitating neuropathic pain caused by nerve damage from the varicella-zoster virus (shingles), which may persist for months and even years.
For more information: https://www.acastipharma.com/en
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