Milestone Pharmaceuticals Announces Appointment of Joseph G. Oliveto as Chief Executive Officer
Appointment Follows Successful Phase 2 Study Result for Etripamil
MONTREAL, March 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Milestone Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., a clinical stage cardiovascular company, today announced the appointment of Joseph G. Oliveto as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. His appointment follows a recent, successful outcome from the company's Phase 2 study of lead candidate etripamil for the acute treatment of paroxysmal supra-ventricular tachycardia (PSVT), a potentially debilitating cardiac arrhythmia. Mr. Oliveto brings more than 25 years of pharmaceutical and biotech experience across the areas of drug development, commercialization, manufacturing and business development to Milestone. Philippe Douville, Ph.D., who founded the company and served as CEO, will now assume the newly created position of Chief Scientific Officer.
"Joe's late stage development and commercialization experience combined with his track record of successful strategic transactions is a great fit for Milestone as we plan to enter Phase 3 development for etripamil," said Paul F. Truex, Chairman of Milestone Pharmaceuticals. "We thank Philippe for his founding vision and leadership that brought us to this important transition point. We look forward to his continued contributions as Chief Scientific Officer."
Mr. Oliveto commented: "As a later stage asset with an established mechanism of action, etripamil has the potential to fulfill an important unmet medical need for patients who suffer from PSVT. With our focused strategy, there is an opportunity to rapidly advance etripamil through the clinic and bring a much needed self-administered PSVT treatment to patients. I look forward to leading Milestone at this important juncture, to joining the strong development team and to the presentation of the exciting clinical study results at an upcoming scientific meeting."
"We are extremely fortunate to have someone with Joe's leadership talent join Milestone," said Philippe Douville. "I am proud of what our team has accomplished and look forward to working with Joe as we continue to execute our strategy."
Prior to joining Milestone, Mr. Oliveto served as President and CEO of Chelsea Therapeutics, a publicly held biopharmaceutical company, where he led the turnaround of that company with U.S. FDA approval of Northera™ for the treatment of neurogenic orthostatic hypotension, and sale of the company to Lundbeck, Inc. Mr. Oliveto also served as CEO of Galleon Pharmaceuticals, a discovery-stage company and Executive in Residence at Pappas Ventures, a healthcare focused venture capital firm. He began his career at Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., where he served for 18 years in a number of progressively senior positions across several operating areas. Mr. Oliveto holds a BA in Chemistry and an MBA, both from Rutgers University.
About Etripamil
Etripamil is a novel, potent, short-acting calcium channel antagonist being developed for the treatment of patients with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT), a potentially debilitating cardiac arrhythmia. Milestone is targeting the development of etripamil as an acute treatment to be administered as a fast-acting and rapidly-metabolized nasal spray which can be self-administered by the patient to terminate PSVT episodes at-home in the unmonitored setting. The Phase 2 clinical trial (NODE-1) has been successfully completed in the United States and Canada and results will be released at an upcoming scientific conference. Information regarding the NODE-1 clinical study may be found at www.clinicaltrials.gov (study identifier NCT02296190). Etripamil is not approved for the treatment of PSVT or for any other indication anywhere in the world.
About Paroxysmal Supraventricular Tachycardia
Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia is a condition that afflicts approximately 1.7 million people and results in over 600,000 healthcare claims in the US alone per year. During a PSVT episode, patients may feel palpitations while heart rate increases dramatically and can exceed 200 beats per minute. Although the condition is not life threatening, it causes great concern on the part of the patient and can result in a visit to a hospital emergency room where the patient is usually administered intravenous drugs and observed until their symptoms resolve.
About Milestone Pharmaceuticals
Milestone, with headquarters in Montreal, Canada and a US subsidiary in Charlotte, NC, is a clinical stage drug development company developing novel small molecule therapeutics based on clinically validated mechanisms of action for cardiovascular diseases. Milestone's lead product, etripamil, is a novel and potent short-acting calcium channel antagonist for the systemic acute treatment of PSVT. For more information, please visit www.milestonepharma.com.
Contact:
David Pitts
Argot Partners
212-600-1902
[email protected]
SOURCE Milestone Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.
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