Lpath Inc. announced that Gary Atkinson has been appointed interim chief executive officer of Lpath, effective immediately.
Atkinson joined Lpath as CFO in 2005, and has more than 20 years of experience with life science companies. Prior to Lpath, he served as the CFO for Quorex Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Pfizer. He also previously served as vice president of finance at Isis Pharmaceuticals, and as a financial consultant to Ichor Medical Systems.
Atkinson will continue to serve as Lpath’s chief financial officer.
Lpath suffered a major clinical trial failure in July with its experimental eye drug iSONEP, which was being developed to treat wet age-related macular degeneration. The drug did not show a statistically significant improvement in visual clarity in patients.
The company suffered a similar blow in March, when its kidney cancer drug failed a midstage trial.
Lpath announced layoffs and cost cutting measures in May, and a company spokesperson said Lpath is working hard to reprioritize and focus on programs that will bring the most value.
The company brought in biotechnology consultant Michael Lack as interim CEO back in November when its previous CEO Scott Pancoast retired. Lack’s contract has concluded, according to a recent news release.
The public company’s stock has fallen 88 percent since the iSONEP clinical trial failure in May, and is currently trading on the Nasdaq under the stock symbol LPTN for $0.20 per share.
