Seattle-based biopharmaceutical company Omeros Corp. (Nasdaq: OMER) has named Amgen and Procter & Gamble veteran Andreas Grauer as the company's chief medical officer.
The company announced the hire Thursday. Grauer will oversee all clinical activities at Omeros in his new role. He takes over for J. Steven Whitaker, Omeros' vice president of clinical development, who has served in the role since November 2019, according to the company's website.
“We are very pleased to welcome Andreas to Omeros’ leadership team,” CEO Gregory Demopulos said in a news release. “I am confident that Andreas will deliver for our organization as we seek to maximize the value of our extensive development pipeline.”
Grauer is joining Omeros from Federation Bio, where he was the chief medical officer for about two years, according to his LinkedIn page. Federation Bio laid off staff in June, and two of its programs were acquired by Kanvas Biosciences this month. Before Federation Bio, he was chief medical officer at Corcept Therapeutics for more than two years. He spent about 10 years at Amgen in development roles before that, his LinkedIn page notes, and about nine years at Procter & Gamble.
Omeros, founded in 1994, is developing treatments aimed at cancer, addiction and compulsive disorders. Omeros is also developing a drug called Narsoplimab that is designed to prevent inflammation and damage to the membranes that line the heart and blood vessels. Narsoplimab is in phase 3 clinical trials for multiple uses and phase 2 clinical trials to help treat the autoimmune disease lupus nephritis.
Omeros in December 2021 sold its Omidria franchise to the British eye care company Rayner Surgical Group Ltd. in a deal projected to be worth over $1 billion between the upfront payment, royalty payments and a commercial milestone payment. Omidria prevents excessive pupil constriction in cataract surgery.
In April, Omeros landed a $6.7 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for a drug candidate designed to treat cocaine use disorder. The money will be provided over three years.
“I am excited to join the leadership team at Omeros,” Grauer said in the release. “I look forward to leading Omeros’ clinical development efforts and to contributing to the company’s success.”
