Former AstraZeneca executive Tony Zook has joined the board of AltheRx Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held clinical development company based in Exton, Pa. Has named a former AstraZeneca executive to its board, named a new CEO and raised $15 million in financing.
Jim Bennethum was named CEO. Bennethum joins AltheRx from Becker Ventures, LLC where he served as an executive vice president. He spent more than 20 years in senior leadership roles at Johnson Controls, Inc. Becker Ventures was formed by the founder of an automotive interior supplier that was sold to Johnson Controls.
AltheRx will continue to focus on advancing its lead candidate solabegron into Phase III trials. The drug targets overactive bladder.
A new board of directors, includes Tony Zook, former Executive Vice President of Commercial Operations of AstraZeneca, CEO of AstraZeneca North America, Executive Vice President of Global Marketing of AstraZeneca, and President of MedImmune Inc. He lost his post at AstraZeneca in a restructuring program under a new CEO>
“Solabegron is a promising beta3-adrenoceptor agonist that has the potential to help more than 35 million Americans who suffer from overactive bladder,” said Zook, board director. “I am pleased to be joining the board and lending my insights to help propel this program forward.”
Formed in 2010, AltheRx Pharmaceuticals is a privately held development company. The company has a business model that aims to advance projects through clinical development and create partnerships with biopharmaceutical companies for commercialization.
Zimmer acquires Knee Creations
Zimmer Holdings, Inc. has acquired the business assets of West Chester, Penn-based Knee Creations, LLC. Zimmer is based in Warsaw, Ind.
The acquisition enhances Zimmer’s product portfolio of knee treatments through the addition of Knee Creations’ Subchondroplasty procedure. Subchondroplasty is a proprietary joint-preservation treatment that has been shown to deliver sustained relief to patients with knee pain, with or without arthritis. It is the first procedure to address an unmet clinical need between early interventions, and total joint replacement.
“Zimmer is committed to developing the most comprehensive range of therapies for knee patients, from early intervention and joint preservation products to patient specific instrumentation and personalized joint replacements,” said Jeff McCaulley, president, Zimmer Reconstructive. “The acquisition of Knee Creations’ revolutionary Subchondroplasty treatment provides Zimmer with another clinically differentiated offering that addresses an unmet clinical need.”
Subchondroplasty is an s outpatient intervention that addresses the defects associated with subchondral bone marrow edema (BME). BMEs are related to stress fractures or micro-fractures and are diagnosed using MRI. Left untreated, these defects have been shown to lead to cartilage degeneration, limited function, pain and greater risk for joint deterioration.
In this minimally invasive, arthroscopically-assisted procedure, navigation instruments are used to inject a specialized bone void filler to treat the bone defect and begin the healing process, without violating the joint.
