Sumitovant Biopharma subsidiary Altavant Sciences has announced the appointment of Howard M. Lazarus as Chief Medical Officer, a newly created position. Lazarus was most recently Medical Expert/Executive Director in Clinical Development and Medical Affairs at Boehringer Ingelheim and was previously Director, Medical Affairs for Pulmonary Hypertension at Gilead Sciences.
Earlier this year, Altavant acquired Onspira Therapeutics and its lead candidate, OSP-101 (now ALTA-2530), an inhaled interleukin-1 receptor antagonist for the treatment of bronchiolitis obliterans. The FDA granted orphan drug designation to OSP-101 for that indication in August 2018.
Altavant CEO William T. Symonds commented, “We are thrilled to welcome Howard to the Altavant team as we advance our lead candidate, rodatristat ethyl, in its ongoing Phase 2 trial in pulmonary arterial hypertension, and expand our pipeline with the addition of ALTA-2530, which we plan to develop for bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome. Howard’s passion for developing medicines for patients with rare and advanced lung diseases, his experience in both drug development and as a pulmonologist-intensivist caring for patients with complicated disorders such as pulmonary arterial hypertension, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome provide him with valuable insights that will benefit our current and future clinical trial programs.”
Lazarus said, “Altavant’s clear commitment to rare respiratory drug development and their patient-centric clinical approach represent a compelling opportunity to make a meaningful impact on the lives of patients with unrelenting lung diseases. I’m looking forward to working with the team to advance our two primary candidates and to evaluate new potential product opportunities as they arise.”
Read the Altavant Sciences press release.
