(PRESS RELEASE)o SEATTLE, WA and IRVINE, CA — Visus Therapeutics Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing multi-targeted ophthalmic therapeutics for the front and back of the eye, today announced Jehan Tamboowalla joined the company as senior vice president of business development and marketing. At Visus, Mr. Tamboowalla will be responsible for identifying and executing strategic partnerships and collaborations as well as leading commercial activities for assets in clinical development.
“We are pleased to welcome Jehan to the Visus leadership team as we approach exciting company milestones,” said Ben Bergo, co-founder and chief executive officer at Visus Therapeutics. “Jehan’s successful record of partnering assets, acquiring novel technologies, and launching ophthalmic medicines provides Visus the expertise required to deliver on our goal of addressing critical unmet needs in the presbyopia eye drop category and beyond.”
Jehan brings over 20 years of experience in business development, marketing, and portfolio strategy in the ophthalmic and pharmaceutical spaces. Prior to joining Visus, he served as Vice President, Head of New Products, Ophthalmology at Novartis. At Novartis, Jehan and his team led the commercial evaluations of numerous external partnering and acquisition opportunities including, most recently, the successful acquisition of gene-therapy company, Gyroscope Therapeutics. Other notable transactions included securing global (ex-US) rights to Luxturna from Spark Therapeutics, in-licensing Xiidra from Takeda Pharmaceuticals, and the acquisition of the presbyopia asset, UNR844 from Encore Vision. Jehan brings a deep understanding of commercial case development and valuations having been the commercial lead on a large number of due diligences. Prior to joining Novartis, Jehan was Managing Director at Red Team Associates, a boutique consulting firm, specialized in working with emerging biopharma, private equity, and venture capital clients. Jehan’s prior industry experience includes multiple product launches and marketing roles of increasing responsibility at Bayer, Bausch & Lomb, and GSK. Jehan continues to coach and mentor future industry leaders and speak at ophthalmology industry forums on emerging innovation and commercial strategy.
“Visus is developing one of the best pipelines in the industry. I am thrilled to join Visus at such an exciting time for the company,” said Jehan. “Visus has several key milestones on the horizon, and I look forward to working closely with Ben and the entire Visus leadership team to provide effective treatments for patients impacted by vision loss.”