MONTREAL, June 22, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - Ortho Regenerative Technologies Inc. (CSE: ORTH) ("Ortho RTI" or the "Company"), an emerging orthobiologics company, today announced the appointment of Mr. Michael Atkin as its new independent Chairman of the Board. Mr. Atkin is succeeding Mr. Steve Saviuk. Mr. Saviuk will continue to serve the Company as a Board member. The change is effective immediately.
"It was an honour and privilege to have worked alongside the Ortho RTI team. I would like to personally thank each and every one of them for all their hard work, their dedication and the milestones successfully delivered so far", said Steve Saviuk, President and Chief Executive Officer of Valeo Pharma, Manitex Capital and former Chairman of Ortho RTI. "The Company has reached a developmental stage that now requires a greater time commitment from the Chairman than I can provide. With Claude LeDuc as our CEO leading his team, and Michael as our new Chairman, Ortho RTI is very well positioned to pursue its development as a clinical stage company, and I look forward to continuing to contribute to its progress as a Board member".
"Ortho RTI accomplished great progress under Steve's stewardship", said Claude LeDuc, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ortho RTI: "His leadership and expertise have been a great asset to the Company, and we are pleased to have his continued involvement as a Board member going forward. We welcome Mr. Atkin to our Board of Directors. We look forward to working with him and benefiting from his experience as a senior US pharma executive. Mr. Atkin has a strong track record of partnering and advancing new technologies towards commercialization which will be very valuable to the Company as we get ready to proceed with our first U.S. clinical trial".
Commenting on his nomination as Ortho RTI new Chairman of the Board, Mr. Atkin said; "I am very pleased to be joining the Company at such a pivotal and exciting time in its corporate development. Ortho RTI's proprietary technology platform possesses all the right elements to improve standard of care surgery outcomes, satisfy significant unmet medical needs and make Ortho RTI a leader in the soft tissue repair and regenerative medicine markets. I look forward to working with Claude and the Board to help the Company deliver on its upcoming catalysts".
More about Mr. Michael Atkin
Mr. Atkin has over 30 years of experience in life sciences as an entrepreneur, start-up executive, leader and manager in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, and in advancing early stage research towards commercialization based on satisfying unmet medical needs.
Mr. Atkin is President of Syzent Partners Ltd. ("Syzent"), a consulting firm in life sciences based in Montreal, QC. Prior to founding Syzent in 2008, Mr. Atkin was Executive Chair and subsequently CEO of Ulysses Pharmaceuticals, focused on overcoming antibiotic resistance. He was previously the founding CEO of Aegera Therapeutics, an apoptosis control company formed by the merger of McGill spinout Exogen Neurosciences with Apoptogen, where he raised $33m in two financing rounds, and advanced two novel first-in-class drugs to the clinic. At the helm of Aegera, Mr. Atkin advanced multiple technology and product partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies, generating several million dollars in revenues.
Mr. Atkin was elected Chairman of the Board of antibiotic chemistry firm Sopharmia Inc in St. Joseph, Missouri in 2012. In 2015, Sopharmia intellectual property was acquired by Gladius Pharmaceuticals, which announced a $4m seed financing. Mr. Atkin served as CEO of Gladius from 2015 to 2019. Mr. Atkin serves on the board of a Université de Montréal spin-out company, Affinité Instruments, focused on laboratory and diagnostic tests.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Atkin held senior executive positions in product development and licensing at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Lederle International, now part of Pfizer. He holds an MBA from Columbia University's graduate school of business (New York, USA) and a BA from the University of Kent at Canterbury (Great Britain).
About Ortho Regenerative Technologies Inc.
Ortho RTI is an emerging orthobiologics company dedicated to the development of novel therapeutic soft tissue repair technologies to dramatically improve the success rate of orthopedic and sports medicine surgeries. Our proprietary RESTORE technology platform is a muco-adhesive CHITOSAN based biopolymer matrix, specifically designed to deliver biologics such as Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) or Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate (BMAC), to augment and guide the regeneration of new tissue in various musculoskeletal conditions. Ortho-R, our lead Chitosan-PRP hybrid biologic implant product, is formulated and designed to increase the healing rates of occupational and sports related injuries to tendons, meniscus and ligaments. Other formulations are being developed for cartilage repair, bone void filling and osteoarthritis treatment. The Chitosan-PRP combination ORTHO-R implant can be directly applied into the site of injury by a surgeon during a routine operative procedure without significantly extending the time of the surgery and without further intervention. An Ortho-R Rotator Cuff Tear Repair US pilot clinical trial is being prepared and coordinated. In parallel, an IDE FDA submission is planned for Q3 2020. Considering the significant potential of our technology platform, Ortho RTI continues to assess new therapeutic target uses outside of the soft tissue repair field. Further information about Ortho RTI is available on the Company's website at www.orthorti.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Also follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain certain forward-looking statements regarding the Company's expectations for future events. Such expectations are based on certain assumptions that are founded on currently available information. If these assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, amongst others, uncertainty as to the final result and other risks. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward- looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by security laws.
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SOURCE Ortho Regenerative Technologies Inc.
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