NEW YORK, Dec. 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- RDD Pharma, a specialty pharma company focused on innovative therapies for anorectal diseases and gastrointestinal disorders, today announced the appointment of June S. Almenoff, M.D., Ph.D., as the Board's Executive Chair. Dr. Almenoff brings experience in development and commercialization of mid- and late- stage products.
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"We are delighted to welcome June to our Board of Directors during this exciting stage of our company's growth," said Jason Laufer, CEO of RDD Pharma. "June's insight and experience will be extremely valuable as we move our products into later stage clinical development and identify the best commercialization paths."
"I am excited to join RDD Pharma's Board as Chair," said Dr. Almenoff. "RDD is addressing anorectal diseases, a therapeutic area with significant unmet medical need. The company has made strong progress advancing its clinical stage programs in both anal fissure and in fecal incontinence."
Dr. Almenoff is currently an Executive-in-Residence at Hatteras Venture Partners and serves on the Board of Directors at OHR Pharmaceuticals (OHRP: Nasdaq) and Valanbio. Recently, Dr. Almenoff served as President, Principal Executive Officer and Chief Medical Officer at Furiex Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq). During her 4 year tenure, the company's valuation increased ~10x culminating in its acquisition by Forest Labs/Actavis for ~$1.2B in 2014. Furiex's lead product, eluxadoline, a novel gastrointestinal drug, received FDA approval in 2015. Prior to joining Furiex, Dr. Almenoff was at GlaxoSmithKline for 12 years, where she held positions of increasing responsibility. During her tenure at GSK, she was a Vice President in the Clinical Safety organization, and chaired a PhRMA-FDA working group. She also worked in the area of scientific licensing. Prior to joining GSK, Dr. Almenoff was on the faculty of Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Almenoff received her B.A. cum laude from Smith College, graduated with AOA honors from the M.D.-Ph.D. program at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and completed a medical residency and fellowship at Stanford University Medical Center. Dr. Almenoff is a board-certified Fellow of the American College of Physicians and has authored over 50 publications.
About RDD Pharma
RDD is a privately held specialty pharma company, backed by Orbimed. RDD focuses on fast-track development and commercialization of innovative therapeutics for anorectal diseases and gastrointestinal disorders. RDD Pharma's lead product for the treatment of pain associated with anal fissure is starting Phase 3 in Europe in Q1, 2016. RDD-0315 for fecal incontinence will begin a Phase 2b study in 2016. Products currently under development at RDD are expected to reach the market in two to six years.
Contact:
Jason Laufer
CEO
[email protected]
+1-973-723-9000
Jennifer Filbey, Ph.D.
Business & Corporate Development
[email protected]
+1-256-417-8568
www.rddpharma.com
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SOURCE RDD Pharma