The leadership change at NuPathe (NASDAQ:PATH) has ushered in a CEO with the sales and marketing background to bring its first product — a migraine patch — to market, a move that is likely to loosen up the purse strings of conservative investors.
Tracy T. Lefteroff, managing partner of the venture capital practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said a change in leadership at a startup life science company after it files its new drug application, or NDA, is pretty typical. Speaking generally, Lefteroff said: “It’s not uncommon for venture capital firms to pre-negotiate these changes. Generally, these changes are planned well ahead of time.” Lefteroff acknowledged that with the slower pace of U.S. Food and Drug Administration approvals for drugs compared with a few years ago, these changes are happening later.
In an interview with MedCity News, Armando Anido said his three priorities are raising money, maintaining good communication with the FDA and building up its sales force.
“My number one priority is cash. We need to have sufficient resources from a money standpoint to execute the launch of the product,” Anido said.
Jane Hollingsworth, who resigned Wednesday, is staying with the company as a consultant and leveraging the relationships she has built with key decision-makers. A serial entrepreneur, she co-founded the company with Terri Sebree, the current president.
“I think the skill sets to start a company and get a product from growth phase to maturity is like a relay team. The first person runs with the baton for the first mile, then hands it off down the road and collectively you get to the success line,” Anido said.
“Everyone is thankful for what Jane did and thankful that someone with a different skill set is in the role,” he added. “What she did I could probably never do and what I am doing, she hasn’t had the experience in doing.”
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
One of the companies’ priorities for its sales team is ensuring that it is educated on the drug-delivery mechanism of the migraine patch and conveying that accurately to the neurology specialists and prescribing primary care physicians. Even if the FDA gives NuPathe’s migraine drug therapy the go-ahead, it still has to clear its marketing materials.
Other priorities include filing investigational new drug (IND) applications next year for its Parkinson’s disease treatment and its drug to treat schizophrenia, although he cautioned that’s subject to change.
“I am really excited about this and the company is really on the right path; it’s important for us to get the right resources available. I am looking forward to getting this product in front of the millions of migraine sufferers that are out there.”
