POZEN Inc. today announced the appointment of Mark N. Matthews
as Vice President of Marketing and Sales. Mr. Matthews will be responsible for
driving the commercial strategy for all pipeline products beginning with
POZEN's lead product candidate, PA32540, a coordinated-delivery tablet of
enteric-coated aspirin and immediate-release omeprazole. This novel, patented
oral product is currently in Phase 3 clinical development in the U.S.
with New Drug Application (NDA) submission scheduled for 2012.
"Mark's addition to the team represents another step
forward for POZEN toward commercialization," said Liz Cermak, Executive
Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of POZEN. "He shares POZEN's
philosophy about transforming the way new medicines are marketed to physicians,
patients and managed care. He is well versed in the use of digital media, which
we believe will become the cornerstone of pharmaceutical promotion replacing
the inefficient sales rep model currently in use." Mobile and digital
communications are changing the way healthcare professionals and patients
receive health information. POZEN plans to take advantage of these trends and
make cutting-edge customer communications a core driver of its commercial
model. POZEN believes this will enable the company to engage in more meaningful
dialogues with physicians, payers and patients, in cost-effective ways previously
not possible.
POZEN is developing a portfolio of integrated aspirin
therapies across a number of indications. Using the same proprietary technology
proven in VIMOVO(TM) (naproxen and esomeprazole magnesium) delayed release tablets,
to provide the coordinated release of a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) and
aspirin, the products in the PA portfolio are designed to enable the full power
of aspirin by reducing its gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity.
"Gastrointestinal toxicity is the most common therapy
limiting adverse event associated with aspirin. We believe that an integrated
aspirin therapy product would be a valuable treatment option for the millions of
patients with cardiovascular disease who are at risk of developing gastric
ulcers," said Dr. John Plachetka, Chairman, President and Chief Executive
Officer of POZEN. "Bringing in experienced leaders such as Mark is
critical to our strategic plan to bring our products to market in innovative,
cost-efficient ways to deliver affordable medicines to those who need them
most." Prior to joining POZEN, Mr. Matthews held several key commercial positions,
including Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Javelin Pharmaceuticals, and
Vice President of Neurology Marketing, Biogen Idec.