LAVAL,
QC, April 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Acasti
Pharma Inc. ("Acasti" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: ACST), a
late-stage specialty pharma company advancing drug candidates for
rare and orphan diseases, today announced the appointment of
Prashant Kohli as Acasti's new Chief
Executive Officer, succeeding Jan D'Alvise. The parties have
mutually agreed to part ways, and Ms. D'Alvise will be stepping
down from the board.
Prashant Kohli has served as
Chief Commercial Officer of Acasti since 2022. Mr. Kohli has over
20 years of commercialization experience leading strategy, sales,
marketing, and product management. Recently, Mr. Kohli was VP,
Commercial Operations of Acasti and at Grace Therapeutics, prior to
its acquisition by Acasti in August
2021. Mr. Kohli has developed a broad network of KOL
physicians who treat Subarachnoid Hemorrhage (SAH) at leading
comprehensive stroke centers across the country; Acasti's
late-stage clinical program, GTX-104, is for the treatment of SAH.
Mr. Kohli has also held a variety of commercial, corporate, and
business development roles at Archi-Tech Systems, Cardinal Health,
IQVIA, Rosenbluth, and Dun & Bradstreet. He has a BA in
Computer Science and Math, and an MBA from The Wharton School.
"Acasti is at an exciting point in its development as we advance
GTX-104 into its upcoming Phase 3 safety study and are fortunate to
have someone with Prashant's wealth of experience to lead us into
this next stage in our evolution," commented Vimal Kavuru, Acasti's Board Chair. "Prashant's
expertise crafting go-to-market plans for products with unique
value proposition that address critical unmet needs, coupled with
his commercial partnering capabilities, will serve us well going
forward."
Over his career, Mr. Kohli has built, deployed, and led sales
and marketing efforts from the ground-up with significant
experience in P&L accountability, product development,
salesforce design and deployment, branding, market access, and
distribution. He has successfully implemented evidence-based,
consultative-selling model that are rooted in deep understanding of
the health ecosystem including patients, providers, health systems,
government, and payers.
Mr. Kohli added, "I am extremely excited for the opportunity to
lead Acasti going forward. We have a tremendous opportunity ahead
of us to bring effective treatments to severely underserved patient
population, led by GTX-104's advancement to a Phase 3 safety study
in patients with SAH. I look forward to leveraging my
commercialization and partnering experience in this new role to
bring value to Acasti."
"We thank Jan for her dedicated service and many contributions
to the advancement of Acasti, and we wish her well in her future
endeavors," said Mr. Kavuru.
About Acasti
Acasti is a late-stage specialty pharma company with drug
delivery technologies and drug candidates addressing rare and
orphan diseases. Acasti's novel drug delivery technologies have the
potential to improve the performance of currently marketed drugs by
achieving faster onset of action, enhanced efficacy, reduced side
effects, and more convenient drug delivery—all which could help to
increase treatment compliance and improve patient outcomes.
Acasti's three lead clinical assets have each been granted Orphan
Drug Designation by the FDA, which provide the assets with seven
years of marketing exclusivity post-launch in the United States, and additional intellectual
property protection with over 40 granted and pending patents.
Acasti's lead clinical assets target underserved orphan diseases:
(i) GTX-104, an intravenous infusion targeting Subarachnoid
Hemorrhage (SAH), a rare and life threatening medical emergency in
which bleeding occurs over the surface of the brain in the
subarachnoid space between the brain and skull; (ii) GTX-102, an
oral mucosal spray targeting Ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T), a
progressive, neurodegenerative genetic disease that primarily
affects children, causing severe disability, and for which no
treatment currently exists; and (iii) GTX-101, a topical spray
targeting Postherpetic Neuralgia (PHN), a persistent and often
debilitating neuropathic pain caused by nerve damage from the
varicella zoster virus (shingles), which may persist for months and
even years.
For more information, please visit: https://www.acasti.com
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not statements of
historical or current fact constitute "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995, as amended, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933,
as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
as amended, and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of
Canadian securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking
statements"). Such forward looking statements involve known and
unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause
the actual results of Acasti to be materially different from
historical results or from any future results expressed or implied
by such forward-looking statements. In addition to statements which
explicitly describe such risks and uncertainties, readers are urged
to consider statements containing the terms "believes," "belief,"
"expects," "intends," "anticipates," "estimates", "potential,"
"should," "may," "will," "plans," "continue", "targeted" or other
similar expressions to be uncertain and forward-looking. Readers
are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.
The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon
Acasti's current expectations and involve assumptions that may
never materialize or may prove to be incorrect. Actual results and
the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated
in such forward-looking statements as a result of various risks and
uncertainties, including, without limitation: (i) the success and
timing of regulatory submissions of the planned Phase 3 safety
study for GTX-104; (ii) regulatory requirements or developments and
the outcome and timing of the proposed IND application for GTX-104;
(iii) changes to clinical trial designs and regulatory pathways;
(iv) legislative, regulatory, political and economic developments;
and (v) actual costs associated with Acasti's clinical trials as
compared to management's current expectations. The foregoing list
of important factors that could cause actual events to differ from
expectations should not be construed as exhaustive and should be
read in conjunction with statements that are included herein and
elsewhere, including the risk factors detailed in documents that
have been and are filed by Acasti from time to time with the
Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian securities
regulators. All forward-looking statements contained in this press
release speak only as of the date on which they were made. Acasti
undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect
events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on
which they were made, except as required by applicable securities
laws. The NASDAQ does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
Acasti Contact:
Prashant Kohli
Chief Executive Officer
Tel: 450-686-4555
Email:info@acasti.com
www.acasti.com
Investor Relations:
Robert Blum
Lytham Partners, LLC
602-889-9700
ACST@lythampartners.com
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SOURCE Acasti Pharma Inc.