Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Opthea Limited (ASX: OPT) has formed a Medical Advisory Board (MAB) composed of 10 retina thought leaders from countries around the world including the US, Argentina, Australia, China, France, Germany, and Israel.
Chaired by Arshad Khanani, Chief Medical Advisor of Opthea, the MAB’s role is to advise the company on opportunities to address the unmet medical needs of patients with retinal diseases and to inform the company’s development efforts, such as the sozinibercept clinical programme in wet AMD.
“We appreciate the support from world-renowned experts in retinal diseases to advise us on the short- and long-term strategic direction of our pipeline and development efforts,” said Frederic Guerard, Chief Executive Officer of Opthea.
“Our vision is to help people with retinal diseases see better by advancing bold therapeutic innovations and inspiring transformation within the global retinal community. Opthea’s new Medical Advisory Board will be a valuable resource for our team to learn from the scientific insights and clinical practice of the appointed retinal experts.”
The formation of the MAB comes at a crucial stage for the company as it prepares for Phase 3 topline data read-out of its two pivotal trials of sozinibercept in wet AMD (COAST in early Q2 calendar year 2025 and ShORE in mid-calendar year 2025) and continues to advance BLA and go-to-market preparations.
Opthea’s newly formed MAB consists of:
David Boyer, Senior Partner at the Retina- Vitreous Associates Medical Group, and an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology with the University of Southern California/Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles, California.
Andrew Chang, Head of Ophthalmology at the Sydney Eye Hospital, and the Medical Director of Sydney Retina Clinic, Australia.
Frank Holz, Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Bonn, Germany.
Anat Loewenstein, Professor and Director of the Division of Ophthalmology at the Tel Aviv Medical Centre and VP Ambulatory Services at the Tel Aviv Medical Centre.
Dante Pieramici, Managing Partner at California Retina Consultants and a member of the Medical Leadership Board of the Retina Consultants of America.
Carl Regillo, Director of the Retina Service Unit of Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, Professor of Ophthalmology at Thomas Jefferson University School of Medicine, as well as founder and former Director of the Wills Eye Clinical Retina Research Unit.
Patricio Schlottmann, Ophthalmology Director and Retina Specialist at the Medical University, as well as Head of Clinical Research at the Charles Research Centre of Ophthalmology, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Tien Wong, Chair Professor and the Founding Head of Tsinghua Medicine at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
Eric Souied, Head of the Ophthalmology Department at the Intercommunal Hospital of Créteil and Henri Mondor Hospital. He is also Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Paris-Est Creteil.
