Industry veteran brings biopharma and medical device company leadership experience
as SetPoint advances its proprietary bioelectronic medicine platform
Valencia, CA – August 13, 2018 – SetPoint Medical, a clinical-stage company developing bioelectronic
therapy for chronic inflammatory diseases, announced today the appointment of Murthy Simhambhatla, Ph.D. as President and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Simhambhatla succeeds Anthony Arnold, who has decided to pursue other opportunities.
Dr. Simhambhatla is a veteran healthcare executive with extensive experience across both large and small companies in the medical device, diagnostics and biopharma sectors. He has extensive experience in advancing R&D programs successfully through clinical development, manufacturing scale-up and commercialization, as well as in M&A and Initial Public Offerings.
“The depth and breadth of Murthy’s expertise make him an ideal fit to lead SetPoint through the next phase of pivotal clinical study and commercialization,” said Allan Will, Chairman of the Board of SetPoint Medical. “Murthy is uniquely qualified to advance SetPoint Medical to its full potential, building on the strong foundation of our proprietary bioelectronic medicine platform.” Mr. Will continued, “The Board and I would like to thank Tony for successfully leading the development of SetPoint’s proprietary device and advancing it through a U.S. first-in-human study. We wish Tony continued success in his next endeavor.”
“SetPoint’s therapy offers a novel pathway to address unmet needs for patients with autoimmune diseases,” said Dr. Simhambhatla. “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to lead SetPoint and to work with its innovative team to develop and commercialize our therapy for patients with autoimmune diseases.”
Prior to joining SetPoint, Dr. Simhambhatla was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Evolus, a medical aesthetics company with a lead biologic drug, DWP-450, which he led to an IPO in 2018. Prior to Evolus, Dr. Simhambhatla was a Senior Vice President at Abbott Laboratories and President of Abbott Medical Optics, a $1B-plus global ophthalmic business focused on cataract and refractive surgery. Dr. Simhambhatla’s experience at Abbott includes leading the Ibis Biosciences division and running international commercial operations in Australia and New Zealand. Dr. Simhambhatla joined Abbott through the acquisition of Guidant’s vascular division where he led the development of the Xience™ drug eluting stent.
About SetPoint Medical
SetPoint Medical is a privately held biomedical technology company dedicated to treating patients with debilitating autoimmune diseases using bioelectronic medicine. SetPoint’s approach is intended to offer patients and providers a treatment alternative for rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease and other chronic inflammatory diseases with potentially less risk and cost than drug therapy.
SetPoint is developing a novel bioelectronic medicine platform that stimulates the vagus nerve with digital doses of electricity designed to activate the inflammatory reflex to produce a systemic immunorestorative effect. The company has published positive results from its proof-of-concept trial in rheumatoid arthritis in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). SetPoint is evaluating the company’s proprietary device in a U.S. pilot trial for treatment of drug-refractory RA patients. Current investors in the company include Morgenthaler Ventures, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Topspin Partners, MS Pace, GlaxoSmithKline’s Action Potential Venture Capital and Boston Scientific. For more information, visit www.setpointmedical.com.
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