AVANIR Strengthens Its Sales and Marketing Team
July 06 2005 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
AVANIR Pharmaceuticals (AMEX:AVN) today announced that it has
appointed Keith Katkin as its Senior Vice President, Sales and
Marketing and Eric Benevich as its Senior Director, Marketing, to
further advance its plans for Neurodex(TM). Neurodex is the
company's product candidate currently undergoing New Drug
Application review at the Food and Drug Administration for the
indication of pseudobulbar affect and being evaluated in a recently
initiated Phase III clinical trial in patients with diabetic
neuropathic pain. Both of these positions are newly created. Keith
Katkin will lead the team further developing the sales and
marketing capabilities of AVANIR. Initially the senior members of
the team will be both AVANIR's Senior Vice President, Corporate
Development, (David Hansen) and its Vice President, Commercial
Development (Gus Fernandez, Pharm. D.) in addition to Eric Benevich
and a to-be-recruited Director, National Sales. Most recently, Mr.
Katkin served as the Vice President, Commercial Development for
Peninsula Pharmaceuticals, playing a key role in the sale of
Peninsula to Johnson & Johnson. Mr. Katkin's product launch and
brand management experience on products such as Neupogen, Neulasta,
and Biaxin will be especially valuable to AVANIR during its planned
transformation into a fully integrated pharmaceutical company.
Prior to his tenure at Peninsula, Mr. Katkin held Sales and
Marketing positions with InterMune, Amgen and Abbott Laboratories.
Mr. Benevich, most recently Senior Director, Marketing at Peninsula
Pharmaceuticals, has over fourteen years of industry experience at
Amgen, AstraZeneca, and Astra Merck in various marketing, market
research, and sales roles. His extensive launch and brand
management experience on products such as Prilosec, Epogen and
Enbrel will be especially beneficial to AVANIR as it plans for the
launch of its Neurodex product. AVANIR Pharmaceuticals is a
pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing
novel therapeutic products for the treatment of chronic diseases.
AVANIR's product candidates address therapeutic markets that
include central nervous system and cardiovascular disorders,
inflammation, and infectious disease. AVANIR recently submitted to
the FDA the last modules of its "rolling" new drug application for
Neurodex(TM) for the treatment of pseudobulbar affect.
Additionally, AVANIR has initiated a double-blind,
placebo-controlled, multicenter, Phase III clinical trial of
Neurodex in patients with diabetic neuropathic pain. Recently,
AVANIR partnered its preclinical research and development program
for inflammatory disease with Novartis. The Company's first
commercialized product, Abreva(R), is marketed in North America by
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare and is the leading
over-the-counter product for the treatment of cold sores. Further
information about AVANIR can be found at www.avanir.com. Except for
the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in
this press release contain forward-looking statements that are
subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from any future results, performance
or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Statements
that are not historical facts, including statements that are
preceded by, followed by, or that include such words like
"estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "plan," or "expect"
or similar statements are forward-looking statements. Forward
looking statements include, but are not limited to, risks
associated with the FDA's review of the Company's new drug
application for Neurodex, regulatory decisions by the FDA for the
Company's drug candidates, milestones, and royalties earned from
licensees, and results of clinical trials or product development
efforts, as well as risks described in the Company's most recent
Annual Report on Form 10-K and in subsequent quarterly reports on
Form 10-Q and from time-to-time in other publicly available
information regarding the Company. Research findings are not always
supportable by evidence obtained from subsequent clinical trials,
and the Company can make no assurances that clinical trials will
yield positive results. Final review decisions made by the FDA and
other regulatory agencies concerning clinical trial results are
often unpredictable and outside the influence and/or control of the
company. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update
these forward-looking statements.
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