STOCKHOLM & PHILADELPHIA– Intrance Medical Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of Sweden-based Intrance Holdings AB, today announced the company has officially established its U.S. operations with the appointment of Patrick M. Shea as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors. Mr. Shea will be responsible for building the company’s operational and business structure and initiating the U.S. clinical development program for its fixed-dose combination treatment of levodopa, carbidopa and entacapone for enteral infusion in advanced Parkinson’s disease patients. The product is currently marketed as Lecigon™ in the Nordic countries and certain European markets.
“We created Intrance to fill a void in an underserved area of treatment for patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease who currently have limited options available to them. With Patrick at the helm of this new U.S.-based company, his extensive leadership experience will be invaluable as we look to establish Intrance’s presence in the U.S. and bring to market our therapeutic as an option for patients who suffer from this debilitating neurodegenerative disorder,” said Ulf Rosen, Co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Intrance Medical Systems. “Patrick’s three decades in sales, marketing, market access and commercial operations across start-ups and global pharmaceutical companies will be instrumental now that we have filed our Investigational New Drug application with the FDA.”
Mr. Shea brings to Intrance Medical Systems a wealth of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry with a proven track record of leading and growing commercial organizations across a diverse set of companies, markets and therapeutic areas. Additionally, he has successfully led a number of product launches and has significant strategic business development expertise.
“I am excited to join Intrance and look forward to working with the Board to build the company’s management team, advance our clinical development program and initiate other key activities to support our strategy and future commercialization,” said Mr. Shea. “I am also honored to be leading an organization that is committed to bringing innovation to the advanced Parkinson’s disease community, including patients and their families, caregivers and clinicians.”
Mr. Shea joins Intrance from Antares Pharmaceuticals, where he served as Senior Vice President, Commercial. Prior, he served in chief commercial officer roles at Eaglet Corporation and Clarus Therapeutics. Previously, Mr. Shea held senior leadership positions at CSL Behring (Vice President Commercial, U.S.), Astellas Pharmaceuticals U.S. (Senior Vice President Commercial) and assignments of increasing responsibility at Ligand Pharmaceutical and Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Alfred University.
Intrance’s treatment system combines a proprietary pharmaceutical gel formulation of a fixed-dose combination of levodopa, carbidopa and entacapone with a wearable, lightweight infusion pump that delivers the drug directly to the intestine allowing for continuous use in patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease.
The product is currently approved and commercially available as Lecigon in the Nordic countries, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Slovenia, Romania, and under final regulatory review in remaining European countries. In September 2020, the commercial rights to Lecigon outside of North/South America, Taiwan and Japan were acquired by the Bain/Cinven backed company STADA/Britannia. (IANS)
