Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

February 12, 2019 Bioscience Notebook

Achillion names new CFO; BioXcel drug may ease opioid withdrawal

PHOTO | Contributed Achillion CFO Brian Di Donato

New Haven-based Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc. has promoted its recently hired head of investor relations to senior vice president and chief financial officer.

Brian Di Donato takes on the new role immediately, succeeding longtime CFO Mary Kay Fenton, who left the company at the end of last year after 18 years.

“Brian joined the Achillion team in August 2018 and has already made significant contributions alongside the new management team as we accelerate our clinical programs and prepare for registration trials,” said CEO Joseph Truitt in a statement.

Di Donato previously served as managing director and co-portfolio manager at Sorin Capital Management and as president and chief investment officer at Capmark Investments. He also held management positions at Morgan Stanley and UBS Securities.

In his new role, he will continue to lead investor relations and will also oversee finance, accounting and treasury, the company said.

His appointment is the latest of several senior management changes over the last year as the company downsized and shifted its focus from infectious diseases to rare disorders.

Truitt took the helm as CEO last May, having been promoted from chief operating officer. The company appointed a new chief business officer, Anthony S. Gibney; chief medical officer, Steven Zelenkofske; and chief operating officer, Paul Firuta, last summer and recently opened a second office in Philadelphia.

Fenton held the CFO post for the last 12 years before stepping down in December. She started with Achillion as director of finance at its inception in 2000.

Achillion is developing drugs that inhibit Factor D, an enzyme that plays a role in some immune-related disorders.

* * *

BioXcel Therapeutics Inc.’s proposed drug for agitation in patients with dementia and mental illness could have another use: helping to combat the opioid addiction crisis.

The federally approved intravenous drug dexmedetomidine (IV Dex) eased withdrawal symptoms in an early-stage study of patients suffering from opioid dependency, the New Haven-based biotech reported.

BioXcel is developing a new, under-the-tongue thin film version of the older drug, which it calls BXCL501. It has already applied for Food & Drug Administration approval to treat agitation in patients with dementia, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

The company said the recent Phase 1B trial supports expanding the potential market to include patients experiencing opioid withdrawal.

“Opioid withdrawal symptoms are challenging medical conditions that have reached epidemic proportions and are in need of additional effective therapies,” Robert Risinger, MD, BioXcel’s vice president for clinical development, said in a statement. “We are very excited by the efficacy IV Dex demonstrated in treating the symptoms of opioid withdrawal.”

The drug works by selectively blocking alpha-2a adreneric receptors on neurons that originate in an area of the brainstem that is activated during opioid withdrawal.

In the study of 15 patients, 10 received the drug while the remaining five took a placebo, the company said. Using an 11-item scale that measures withdrawal symptoms, all ten patients receiving IV Dex responded to treatment, according to the company. There was no response in patients taking the placebo.

The two-year-old company uses big data and artificial intelligence to discover new drugs and find novel uses for older ones.

Contact Natalie Missakian at news@newhavenbiz.com

Sign up for Enews

0 Comments

Order a PDF