Envisia Therapeutics appoints Adrienne Graves and Gary Phillips to the Board as Non-Executive Directors

– USA, NC – Envisia Therapeutics today announced that it has made two appointments to the company’s board of directors. Effective immediately, Adrienne Graves, Ph.D. and Gary Phillips, M.D. will join the board as non-executive members.

“We are extremely honored to have these two respected industry leaders join the Board of Directors of Envisia early in the lifecycle of our company, which we believe is paving the way for a potentially transformative line of innovative ocular therapeutics,” said Neal Fowler, Chief Executive Officer of Envisia Therapeutics. “Both appointments bring invaluable perspective and insights that are greatly complementary to that of our existing board, forming a team that will collectively help us position Envisia as a leader in developing cutting-edge solutions for the ophthalmology community.”

A global thought leader in ophthalmology, Dr. Adrienne Graves currently serves as an independent director on a number of corporate boards, including Akorn, Inc.; TearLab Corporation; Aerpio Therapeutics; and Encore Vision. She is also a director on a number of ophthalmology-related foundation boards, including the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) Foundation, Glaucoma Research Foundation (GRF), American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Foundation (Emeritus), Himalayan Cataract Project, and KeepYourSight Foundation. Dr. Graves also cofounded Glaucoma 360 (Glaucoma Research Foundation) and Ophthalmic Women Leaders (OWL). Additionally, she serves on the Corporation Committee for the Brown University Medical School and the Advisory Board for Amach Capital Partners.

“Much progress has been made in the field of ophthalmology; however, the rate of preventable vision loss and blindness continues to rise and underscores the near-term need for truly innovative ocular therapies,” said Adrienne Graves, Ph.D. “Envisia’s application of the PRINT® technology to address unmet needs in ophthalmology could have a profound impact on our ability to reduce the rate of preventable vision loss, and I look forward to working with the company on its efforts to achieve this worthy goal.”

Dr. Graves was formerly President and Chief Executive Officer of Santen USA, a division of Santen Co. Ltd., Japan’s largest ophthalmic pharmaceutical company. She started her successful career with Santen USA in 1995 as Vice President of Clinical Affairs with responsibility for initiating the company’s U.S. clinical program, which included the approval of three New Drug Applications. Prior to joining Santen, she spent nine years with Alcon Laboratories, Inc., beginning as a Senior Scientist and then advancing into various roles, including Director of International Ophthalmology. Dr. Graves received her AB in Psychology with honors from Brown University and her Ph.D. in Psychobiology from the University of Michigan, and she completed a postdoctoral fellowship in visual neuroscience at the University of Paris.

Dr. Gary Phillips has more than 20 years’ experience in strategy, business development and licensing, commercial operations, business analytics, and clinical medicine in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. He is currently the Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals.

“The ophthalmology market is attractive and highly concentrated among a few competitors; therefore, new entrants must be clearly differentiated through improved technologies that deliver marked improvement in patient outcomes while reducing the cost burden on patients and the healthcare system,” said Gary Phillips, M.D. “Through its unique combination of talent, technology, and vision, Envisia is well positioned to compete in this market, and I look forward to working with the company’s board and management team toward the goal of maximizing its potential in the years to come.”

Before joining Mallinckrodt, Dr. Phillips served as Head of Global Health and Healthcare Industries at the World Economic Forum in Geneva, Switzerland. Previously, he was President of Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and held the dual roles of President, U.S. Surgical and Pharmaceuticals and Global Head of Pharmaceuticals at Bausch & Lomb Incorporated. He has also held executive roles at Merck Serono, Novartis, and Wyeth (now Pfizer) and served as a healthcare strategy management consultant at Towers Perrin (now Towers Watson) and as a medical officer with the United States Navy. Dr. Phillips attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a medical degree from the School of Medicine, an MBA from the Wharton School, and a Bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in biochemistry from the College of Arts and Sciences. He completed his postgraduate medical education at Naval Medical Center San Diego.

ABOUT ENVISIA THERAPEUTICS™

Envisia Therapeutics, formed by Liquidia Technologies in 2013, is a privately-held biotechnology company focused on the development of novel ocular therapies. Envisia is leveraging the unique and powerful properties of the PRINT® technology to develop therapies for a variety of ocular conditions, beginning with ENV515 for glaucoma. ENV515 is a novel, implantable extended-release formulation of travoprost (a marketed prostaglandin analogue) that has the potential to significantly limit disease progression and vision loss through improved product performance and patient compliance. Envisia is located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

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