SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J., April 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (PTC) today announced the appointment of Mark A. Rothera as Chief Commercial Officer, reporting to Stuart W. Peltz, Ph.D., CEO of PTC Therapeutics. Mr. Rothera will be responsible for global commercial functions supporting PTC's pipeline, including the investigational new drug ataluren.
"It is an exciting opportunity to join PTC," stated Mr. Rothera. "Ataluren is in late-stage clinical development for patients with nonsense mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis. Both indications have no treatment options targeting the underlying cause of the disorder. I look forward to applying my experience in rare diseases to build a commercial function at PTC dedicated to serving patients around the world."
A veteran of the orphan drug arena, Mr. Rothera has spent 15 of his 23 years in the biopharmaceutical industry bringing new therapies to patients with rare diseases. Mr. Rothera served previously as Global President of Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc. where he was responsible for global commercial operations, manufacturing, and supply chain. Previously Mr. Rothera was Vice President and General Manager for the commercial operations of Shire Human Genetic Therapies in Europe, the Middle East & Africa, where he was instrumental in leading growth through geographic expansion and the successful launches of three new therapies for rare diseases across 40 countries. Prior to Shire, Mr. Rothera held global strategic and operational marketing and sales roles with the French and UK operations of Glaxo Wellcome. Mr. Rothera's previous roles included Marketing Director, Europe at Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Commercial Director, Europe at PathoGenesis and Vice President Marketing & General Manager of the United Kingdom and Ireland at Chiron. Mr. Rothera received an MA in Natural Science fromCambridge University and an MBA from INSEAD.
"We are delighted to welcome Mark as a member of our senior management team," stated Stuart W. Peltz, Ph.D., CEO of PTC Therapeutics. "Mark's extensive experience in successfully launching several global orphan products makes him ideally suited to lead our anticipated commercial efforts. His track record as a champion for transformative therapies is only matched by his continued desire to impact the lives of those affected by rare and life-threatening disorders."
About PTC Therapeutics, Inc.
PTC is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of orally administered small-molecule drugs that target post-transcriptional control processes. Post-transcriptional control processes regulate the rate and timing of protein production and are of central importance to proper cellular function. PTC's internally discovered pipeline addresses multiple therapeutic areas, including rare genetic disorders, oncology and infectious diseases. PTC has developed proprietary technologies that it applies in its drug discovery activities and are the basis for collaborations with leading biopharmaceutical companies. For more information, visit the company's web site at www.ptcbio.com.
SOURCE PTC Therapeutics, Inc.