Oculis Appoints Dr. Frédéric Pilotaz

as Vice President of Technology & Pharmaceutical Sciences

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, April 21, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE)

Oculis S.A., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to develop novel topical treatments (eye drops) for ophthalmic diseases, announces the appointment of Frédéric Pilotaz, PharmD, as Vice President of Technology & Pharmaceutical Sciences. Dr. Pilotaz brings extensive leadership experience in pharmaceutical product technical development, manufacturing and management.

“We proudly welcome Frédéric as the latest addition to our leadership team,” said Riad Sherif, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Oculis. “He has a great skillset spanning multiple formulation technologies in both parenteral and ophthalmic solutions. Frédéric joins Oculis at an opportune time, given that one of our lead assets, OCS-01, a dexamethasone eye drop, formulated with Oculis Solubilizing NanoParticle (SNP) technology, showed positive clinical results in patients with diabetic macular edema. With Frédéric on board, we are now expanding our formulation discovery to progress and broaden our pipeline. His technical knowledge and leadership experience in overseeing global major scientific projects and teams will be key for Oculis as we advance towards our mission of developing innovative topical treatments for ophthalmic diseases for both back-and front-of-the-eye.”

Dr. Pilotaz joins Oculis with more than 20 years of experience in sterile drug development, including 15 years in the Ophthalmic sectors specifically. Most recently, he was Senior Director and Head of CMC and Pharmaceutical Operations at Nicox S.A. During his tenure at Nicox, the Company successfully acquired and integrated two ophthalmology companies in Europe, achieved US-NDA approval for its ocular antihistamine, Zerviate™ and brought two projects up to successful phase 2 clinical studies in the USA including one new chemical entity intended for the glaucoma disease treatment. Prior to Nicox, Dr. Pilotaz was Project Team Leader at Becton Dickinson. In this position, he oversaw programs and project management for both drugs and devices and got several injectable drugs in pre-filled syringes approved in the USA (Simplist^®). Dr. Pilotaz also served as Pharmaceutical Sciences Director at Laboratoires Théa, where he oversaw coordination of Research and Development. Under his guidance, Théa developed a new generation of its ABAK^® system, a preservative-free multidose eye drop container; Azyter^®, the first antibiotic eye drops featuring the active ingredient Azithromycin to gain approval in Europe; and Monoprost^®, the first preservative-free Latanoprost eye drop invented.

Dr. Pilotaz’s other previous positions include pre-development, intellectual property and formulation management at Transphyto S.A., and biological research project management at C.R.S.S.A., the French military health department center of research. Dr. Pilotaz obtained a PharmD from the Joseph Fourier University’s Grenoble School of Pharmacy. He is co-author of 5 patents related to topical ophthalmic formulations.

“Oculis’ portfolio and its formulation discovery focus have the potential to alter the ophthalmic treatment landscape,” said Dr. Pilotaz. “I look forward to working with the accomplished team at Oculis and applying my knowledge and experience to assist the Company in advancing late-stage programs to address unmet needs for patients with back- and front-of-the-eye diseases.”

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