REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—Graybug Vision has announced that the company’s board of directors appointed Frederic Guerard as chief executive officer. Guerard has been working in the pharmaceutical industry for over 20 years, most recently at Novartis, where he held the position of worldwide businesses franchise head of ophthalmology. While at Novartis, Guerard led the integration of Novartis retina and Alcon pharmaceuticals, among other responsibilities. He has served on the Board of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) and on the Board of Medicines Australia, and holds a PharmaD and a Master of Biological and Medical Sciences from the University of Rouen, France, as well as a Master of Marketing from HEC Paris.

Jerry Cagle, Ph.D., acting CEO, and board member at Graybug Vision, said, “We welcome Fred to Graybug Vision. His extensive experience in ophthalmology, including his strong background in commercial planning and broad relationships in the ophthalmic community, come at an important time in our company’s evolution. Fred joins Graybug as it advances GB-102, a potential best-in-class pan-anti-VEGF inhibitor for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD), into a Phase 2b clinical trial and its leading glaucoma asset into the clinic.”

Guerard said, “I would like to thank the Board for their confidence in me to continue building Graybug at such an exciting time. Graybug is uniquely positioned to help eyecare professionals control severe chronic eye diseases, which despite existing treatments, still result in visual impairment or blindness. Graybug’s technology platform of injectable drug-eluting micro-particles with extended duration has relevant applications in the anterior and posterior segments of the eye. Its lead program in wet AMD has the potential to transform the standard of care for patients, improving their real-life visual outcomes and alleviating their treatment burden."