SAN DIEGO, Nov. 18, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: OPTR) today announced that Kurt Hartman has agreed to join Optimer as General Counsel and Access. Mr. Hartman will lead the development and execution of Optimer's market access strategies for its lead product candidate, fidaxomicin. Mr. Hartman brings with him more than twelve years of experience in the healthcare industry, with strong expertise and leadership experience in the area of pharmaceutical product access, reimbursement, pricing, and healthcare policy.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090413/LA97352LOGO)
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090413/LA97352LOGO)
"We are privileged to have Kurt Hartman join Optimer as we begin to build our commercial team for the potential launch of fidaxomicin," said Pedro Lichtinger, Optimer's President and CEO. "Kurt has a wealth of experience in contracting, pricing and access strategies which will be invaluable to a commercial launch of fidaxomicin."
Prior to joining Optimer, Mr. Hartman held the position of Executive Director, Value & Access at Eisai, Inc. where he was responsible for leading the areas of Strategic Pricing & Contracting, Reimbursement Support Services, and Eisai's National Field Reimbursement Team. In this role, Mr. Hartman served as Chairperson of Eisai's U.S. Pricing Committee. Additionally, Mr. Hartman led the development of best-in-class reimbursement support and patient assistance programs, designed to ensure appropriate patient access to Eisai products. Prior to Eisai, Mr. Hartman led Roche's U.S. Patient Reimbursement Support & Assistance Team, where he was responsible for ensuring patient access to Roche's inline product portfolio in addition to leading the development of access strategies for key pipeline products. In this role, Mr. Hartman developed and led three field-based reimbursement teams and oversaw the creation and implementation of critical patient assistance programs.
Mr. Hartman has also held several strategic positions across managed markets, account management, marketing, pricing strategy, and contracting strategy in organizations including Boehringer Ingelheim, Maxim Pharmaceuticals, Amgen, and Kaiser Permanente. Mr. Hartman received his J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law in 1998. He also holds a BA in Anthropology from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).
About Optimer Pharmaceuticals
Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing hospital specialty products to treat serious infections and address unmet medical needs. Optimer has two anti-infective product candidates in development, fidaxomicin and Pruvel™ (prulifloxacin). Fidaxomicin is a narrow spectrum antibiotic being developed for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). We recently initiated a rolling submission of our NDA filing to the FDA, and filed a MAA with the EMA (Europe) for fidaxomicin. Pruvel™ is a prodrug in the fluoroquinolone class of antibiotics that has completed two Phase 3 trials as a treatment for infectious diarrhea. Additional information can be found at http://www.optimerpharma.com.
Contacts |
|
Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. |
|
Christina Donaghy, Corporate Communications Manager |
|
John D. Prunty, Chief Financial Officer & VP Finance |
|
858-909-0736 |
|
Canale Communications, Inc. |
|
Jason I. Spark, Senior Vice President |
|
619-849-6005 |
|
SOURCE Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Share this article