Arikace developer Insmed Incorporated has appointed Will Lewis, co-founder of Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, to succeed Tim Whitten as President and Chief Executive Officer. According to the company, Whitten has resigned from the board of directors as well, and Lewis will join the board. Donald J. Hayden, Jr., who was appointed Executive Chairman earlier this year, returns as Chairman.
“Will has a record of success in the strategic, operational and financial leadership of rapidly growing organizations and has demonstrated the ability to significantly increase shareholder value in the biotech industry. Will has worked closely with the Insmed Board and management team as an advisor to the company during the past several months, and I am confident he will successfully lead Insmed in its efforts to fully realize the potential our lead compound, Arikace, holds for patients suffering from serious orphan diseases of the lung,” Hayden said; “On behalf of the board and the company, I would also like to thank Tim Whitten for his unwavering leadership and considerable contributions as CEO over the past six years. We wish Tim the very best going forward.”
Lewis commented, “Insmed is approaching an important inflection point as it transitions from late-stage development of Arikace through to registration and commercialization. Our late-stage clinical trials, including our pivotal phase 3 trial in CF patients, are enrolling patients quickly, and we believe this speaks to the need for and interest in Arikace. We believe this novel therapy has the potential to improve the lives of patients who battle CF-related Pseudomonas lung infections and non-TB mycobacteria lung infections, both high-growth orphan disease populations. Our focus in the near term will be to prepare the company for commercialization of Arikace in Europe and the US as quickly as possible for the benefit of both patients and Insmed shareholders.”
Read the Insmed press release.
