Former Biogen Idec executive Mark Matthews has been appointed to a top sales and marketing post of drug development company Pozen as the company prepares for an expected late 2013 launch of its lead drug.
As vice president of marketing and sales for Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based Pozen (NASDAQ:POZN), Matthews will oversee the launch of PA32540, a drug candidate that combines aspirin with omeprazole to make it easier on the stomach. The compound is currently in phase III clinical trials. Pozen expects to file a new drug application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2012.
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Pozen already has developed compounds that have reached the market as approved drugs but those products were commercialized through partnerships with larger drug companies. PA32540 will be the first drug that Pozen commercializes on its own. Liz Cermak, Pozen’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer said that Matthews is well versed in using digital media to market drugs, which the company expects will replace the traditional model of pharmaceutical representatives making direct contact with physicians. Pozen expects that using social media to connect to doctors will be a more effective way to reach them and a less expensive way to market pharmaceutical products.
Before joining Pozen, Matthews was vice president of neurology marketing at Biogen Idec (NASDAQ:BIIB), where he worked on launches of the company’s multiple sclerosis drugs Avonex and Tysabri. He has also worked as vice president of marketing and sales for Javelin Pharmaceuticals.