BEDFORD, Mass.—Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. (NASDAQ:OCUL), a biopharmaceutical company committed to enhancing people’s vision and quality of life through the development and commercialization of therapies for diseases and conditions of the eye, has announced board of directors and leadership updates. Pravin U. Dugel, MD has been named executive chairman, and Jeffrey S. Heier, MD, Peter K. Kaiser, MD, and Sanjay Nayak, MBBS, PhD have been appointed to the ocular management team as chief scientific officer, medical director, and chief strategy officer, respectively.

The company also announced that Charles Warden has transitioned from chairman of the board to lead independent director. To enable full transitions to their new operating roles, Dr. Heier has resigned from his positions with the company as a board director and advisor – retina, and Dr. Kaiser has resigned from his position as chief medical advisor – retina of the company. In addition, Peter Jarrett, PhD, has begun the new role of chief technical officer. Rabia Gurses Ozden, MD, will continue in her role as chief medical officer.

“We are bringing together the ‘Retina Dream Team’ to position Ocular at the forefront of retina care, further energizing the momentum behind the Axpaxli Phase 3 wet AMD program. We believe our expanded leadership team will enable us to potentially accelerate the pace of our clinical program for Axpaxli,” said Antony Mattessich, CEO of Ocular Therapeutix.

“With our renewed focus on retinal disease, we are thrilled to welcome Dr. Dugel as executive chairman. He is a visionary executive who brings a history of successful company building and organizational development that we believe will help us make ocular a leader in retina care. On behalf of everyone on the management team, I look forward to working closely with Dr. Dugel,” Mattessich said.

“In addition, we believe that Drs. Heier and Kaiser’s decision to join the management team in operating roles is an incredible asset for the company,” said Mattessich. “Each of these globally recognized retina specialists bring a deep understanding of the Axpaxli program, Ocular’s pipeline and the Elutyx proprietary formulation technology.

"We believe their experience as study chairman or lead investigators in numerous pivotal trials of approved products for wet AMD and other ophthalmic indications will help the company optimize the enrollment of the Axpaxli Phase 3 pivotal trials and enhance the probability of success. Dr. Nayak further strengthens our team, bringing a unique market perspective in retinal disease and ophthalmology from his deep expertise as a strategy consultant and health care investor,” Mattessich said.