Aviceda Therapeutics Appoints Ophthalmology Innovator and Industry Leader Dr. Emmett T. Cunningham, Jr. to Board of Directors
Aviceda Therapeutics ("Aviceda"), a private, clinical-stage biotech company focused on developing next-generation immunomodulators incorporating its proprietary High Affinity Ligands of Siglecs (HALOS™) nanotechnology platform with an aim to alleviate chronic, non-resolving inflammation, today announced the appointment of Emmett T. Cunningham Jr., M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H. to its Board of Directors.
Dr. Cunningham brings more than two decades of experience as a physician-scientist, healthcare entrepreneur, and investor. He was previously a Senior Managing Director at the Blackstone Group following its acquisition of Clarus Ventures, where he was a Managing Director. Throughout his investment career, Dr. Cunningham has led or co-led financings that contributed to the FDA approval of ten therapeutics, including ophthalmic treatments such as Xiidra®, Rhopressa®, Rocklatan®, Syfovre®, and Izervay®.
He previously served as Senior Vice President of Medical Strategy at Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, where he played a leadership role in the development of Macugen® (pegaptanib sodium), the first VEGF-A inhibitor approved for neovascular age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema. Prior to Eyetech, Dr. Cunningham held clinical development and licensing roles at Pfizer, focused on central nervous system and ophthalmology assets.
"Emmett's extensive background in science, medicine, and strategic investing, particularly within ophthalmology, adds significant depth to our Board at a time of meaningful momentum for Aviceda," said Jeffrey Nau, Ph.D., M.M.S., President and Chief Executive Officer of Aviceda Therapeutics. "His unique combination of clinical insight, biopharma operating experience, and investment leadership will be instrumental as we advance AVD-104 into pivotal trials for geographic atrophy and continue to build a leading immunology platform."
"Aviceda is advancing a scientifically compelling approach to immunomodulation that directly addresses longstanding challenges in ophthalmology," said Dr. Cunningham. "The potential of the HALOS™ platform, beginning with AVD-104, extends beyond current treatment paradigms. I look forward to contributing to the company's efforts to translate their innovative approaches into meaningful outcomes for patients with serious, underserved diseases."
Dr. Cunningham currently serves on the Boards of Eyconis, Oryon Cell Therapies, Nacuity Pharmaceuticals, and InflammX Therapeutics, and has held board positions at more than a dozen innovative biopharma companies, including Annexon Biosciences (NASDAQ:ANNX), GrayBug Vision (NASDAQ:GRAY), Lumos Pharma (NASDAQ:LUMO), SARcode Biosciences (acquired by Shire), Galera Therapeutics (GRTX) and the SFJ Pharmaceutical Group. He is also the founder and former chairman of the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit (OIS), a long-standing platform that brings together leaders in ophthalmic science, innovation, and investment.
Dr. Cunningham is an internationally recognized expert in ocular inflammatory and infectious disease, with more than 400 co-authored publications. He earned an M.D. and M.P.H. in epidemiology and statistics from Johns Hopkins University, and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of California at San Diego for research conducted at The Salk Institute. He completed his ophthalmology residency and fellowship training at UCSF and The Francis I. Proctor Foundation, with additional fellowships in Retina at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London and Public health Ophthalmology at The Dana Center of the Wilmer Eye Institute in Baltimore. He currently teaches at California Pacific Medical Center, serves as an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at Stanford University, and is a Research Associate at UCSF School of Medicine.
About Aviceda Therapeutics and AVD-104
Aviceda is a private, clinical-stage biotechnology company located in Cambridge, MA, with a proprietary High Affinity Ligands of Siglecs (HALOS™) nanotechnology platform and a clinical-stage ophthalmic candidate, AVD-104, for the treatment of geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration.
AVD-104 is an intravitreal glycan-coated nanoparticle with a dual mechanism of action that modulates critical inflammatory cellular and complement pathways through 1) direct deactivation of inflammatory microglia/macrophages' phagocytic activity and repolarization of these activated microglia/macrophages to their healing state and 2) inhibition of complement cascade amplification.
Along with AVD-104, Aviceda has a broad pipeline of products in development in ophthalmology and multiple other therapeutic areas, including immunology, fibrosis, oncology, and neurology.
Visit the company website to learn more about Aviceda Therapeutics and follow the company on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).
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