ATHLONE, Ireland, Dec. 17, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Innocoll AG (NASDAQ:INNL) announced that Charles Katzer has been appointed head of Manufacturing and Technical Operations effective immediately. The addition of this role to the senior management team is part of its strategic plan to transition Innocoll into a commercial-stage, fully-integrated specialty pharmaceutical company.
“2016 is anticipated to be an important transitional year for Innocoll,” said Tony Zook, chief executive officer of Innocoll. “We expect to announce results of our two Phase 3 trials of XaraColl for the treatment of post-operative pain in the second quarter of 2016. Results of our two Phase 3 trials of Cogenzia for treatment of diabetic foot infections are expected to be announced in the third quarter of 2016. Both products are anticipated to receive marketing approval in 2017 and, thus, will require a manufacturing ramp-up that is already in progress. We have already initiated pre-commercial activities for both candidates. The addition of Chuck adds his skills and experience in manufacturing, QA/QC, supply chain management and related activities to our team and will help us make both XaraColl and Cogenzia commercial successes.”
Throughout Mr. Katzer’s over 40-year career, he has been responsible for the leadership and direction of manufacturing, quality operations, product & process development, supply chain operations, and engineering functional disciplines in the biopharmaceutical industry. Most recently, he was the senior vice president of technical operations of Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for the overall leadership and direction of manufacturing, supply chain, process development, among other activities, for Auxilium’s products. Prior to his tenure at Auxilium, Mr. Katzer was responsible for a variety of operational activities including manufacturing, QA/QC and process development at a number of biopharmaceutical companies including Discovery Laboratories, Medimmune Vaccines, US Bioscience, Immunomedics and Rhone-Poulenc Rorer. Mr. Katzer received his B.S. in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin.
“Innocoll’s collagen matrix technologies, as evidenced by its advanced product pipeline, are platforms that provide significant potential to make medicines work better, and, therefore, offer ideal opportunities for long-term successful pharmaceutical product development and commercial success,” said Mr. Katzer. “I’m am looking forward to contributing to this success and to participate in the growth of the company in 2016 and beyond.”
About Innocoll AG
Innocoll is dedicated to making better happen—better ways for patients to recover from surgeries and better ways to treat limb-threatening infections. We strive to engineer better medicines to help patients get better.
Our proprietary, biocompatible, and biodegradable collagen products are precision-engineered for targeted use. Applied locally to wound and/or surgery sites, they are designed to provide a range of benefits.
Our robust, late-stage product pipeline is focused on addressing a number of significant unmet medical needs: INL-001, a bupivacaine-collagen bioresorbable implant (Phase III), is being studied to provide better postoperative analgesia; INL-002, a gentamicin-collagen topical matrix (Phase III), is being investigated as a topical treatment to better cure diabetic foot infections; and INL-003, a bioresorbable collagen film surgical adhesion barrier (approved ex-US), is scheduled to enter clinical trials in the US for the prevention of postsurgical adhesions.
Our currently approved products include: COLLAGUARD® (ex-US), COLLATAMP® G, SEPTOCOLL® E, REGENEPRO®, COLLACARE®, COLLEXA®, and ZORPREVA®, some of which are sold globally through strategic partnerships, including those with Takeda, EUSA Pharma, and Biomet. All of our native collagen products—from extraction/purification of type-1 collagen through final delivery form—are manufactured at our certified, integrated plant in Saal, Germany.
Innocoll is a global company operating in Europe and the US, with plans to further partner in other high- potential areas around the world.
For more information, please visit www.innocoll.com.
CollaRx®, Collatamp®, CollaGUARD®, Collieva®, CollaCare®, Collexa®, Cogenzia® LidoColl®, LiquiColl®, and XaraColl® are registered trademarks, and CollaPress™, DermaSil™, Durieva™, and Zorpreva™ are trademarks of the company.