CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. (NVIV) today announced the appointment of Lorianne Masuoka, MD, as Chief Medical Officer (CMO), effective March 2, 2015. She will be taking over for the interim CMO, Lou Vaickus, MD, who is also Founder & President of akta Pharmaceutical Development LLC, a life sciences consulting company.
Prior to joining the InVivo team, Dr. Masuoka served as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Cubist Pharmaceuticals from July 2013 until Jan 2015. As a member of Cubist's executive management team, she managed over 150 employees in the areas of clinical research, drug safety, biostatistics and data management, and clinical operations. Prior to her time at Cubist, she served in various roles of increasing responsibility at Nektar Therapeutics, including Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer from August 2008 until August 2011. Dr. Masuoka served as Vice President, Clinical Development at FivePrime Therapeutics from July 2003 until August 2008. Prior to that, she served as Director, Clinical Development, Oncology at Chiron.
Dr. Masuoka has a medical degree from the University of California, Davis, where she also completed her residency in neurology. She completed her epilepsy fellowship at Yale University and has a board certification from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (Neurology).
Mark Perrin, CEO and Chairman of the Board, said, "I am very pleased to have Lorianne joining the InVivo team at such an exciting time in our company's history. She will be instrumental as we transition from executing on the expedited timeline for our pilot study to designing our pivotal study. Her medical background in neurology and extensive experience in clinical development, managing early to late stage clinical trials in neurological indications and many other multidisciplinary indications will make her an invaluable asset as we move forward with our current and future clinical programs.
"I also wish to acknowledge the excellent work Lou Vaickus has done at InVivo since joining in late 2013. He successfully partnered with a team of clinical and regulatory experts to initiate our first clinical trial. In addition, during his tenure as CMO, he led a close collaboration with the FDA to greatly improve the efficiency of the first-in-man study by expanding the number of allowable clinical sites from 6 to 20, expedited the enrollment plan, and enrolled our first two subjects in the trial. Lou was also an integral part of the leadership team in a range of corporate activities, such as our corporate financings."
About InVivo Therapeutics
InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. is a pioneering biomaterials and biotechnology company with a focus on treatment of spinal cord injuries. The company was founded in 2005 with proprietary technology co-invented by Robert Langer, ScD, Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Joseph P. Vacanti, MD, who then was at Boston Children's Hospital and who now is affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital. In 2011 the company earned the David S. Apple Award from the American Spinal Injury Association for its outstanding contribution to spinal cord injury medicine. The publicly-traded company is headquartered in Cambridge, MA. For more details, visit www.invivotherapeutics.com.