SAN FRANCISCO, July 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — UNITY Biotechnology, Inc. (“UNITY”) [NASDAQ: UBX]The biotechnology company, which is developing therapies to slow, stop or reverse the progression of aging-related diseases, today announced the appointment of Alicia Tozier, MBA, as chief strategy officer. In this new role, she will develop and execute the company’s corporate and product strategy.
Dr. Anirban Ghosh, Chief Executive Officer of UNITY, said, “Alicia’s impressive experience in ophthalmology product planning, commercial strategy and expanding cross-functional teams will be critical in strengthening our strategy and capitalizing on the significant opportunity for UBX1325 to transform the treatment landscape in diabetic macular edema (DME). She has an excellent track record of rapidly building and executing go-to-market strategies, including record-breaking product launches in ophthalmology, which will be invaluable as we advance our lead programs through late-stage clinical development. We are confident that Alicia will drive our strategic vision with operational excellence to ensure we remain at the forefront of innovation in age-related chronic and inflammatory diseases.”
Mr. Tozier has 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, including over 10 years in retinal disease. To date, he has led 18 launches across 8 therapeutic areas across 70 markets worldwide while delivering numerous firsts at Genentech Pharmaceuticals (GNE), Astellas Pharma, and Baxter Healthcare. Prior to joining UNITY, Mr. Tozier served as Senior Vice President at Outlook Therapeutics, where he drove organizational activation and market entry, expanding multiple global functions for the global entry of pre-commercial biopharmaceutical companies. Prior to that, he served as Head of Ophthalmology at GNE, where he was responsible for overseeing market access, marketing, and specialty sales in the U.S. and drove the company’s first entry into the surgical market with PDS. Additionally, he expanded the multi-functional faricimab team to achieve the fastest growth rate in anti-VEGF history and became GNE’s largest growth driver. Mr. Tozier also served as global leader for Astellas Pharma and Baxter Healthcare, where he built global new product planning strategy and organizational capabilities for innovative, paradigm-shifting regenerative medicine and digital therapeutics, launching four platforms in over 70 markets. Mr. Tozier is a graduate of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a recent graduate of the Executive Leadership Program, and holds an MBA from Colorado State University and a BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
“It has been exciting to see UNITY’s progress,” said Tozier. “I believe the company is well positioned to transform into a late-stage clinical development organization, and I am excited to join the executive team and help shape the company’s strategic direction and the broader potential of its product platform. The clinical data to date has been impressive, and UBX1325 has a great opportunity to bring a new treatment to patients with DME. I look forward to contributing to the success of this mission.”
About UNITY
UNITY is developing a new class of therapeutics to slow, stop or reverse the progression of age-related diseases. UNITY is currently focused on developing medicines to selectively remove or modulate senescent cells, thereby providing breakthrough treatments for age-related eye and neurological diseases. For more information, visit www.unitybiotechnology.com or follow us on X and LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding UNITY’s understanding of cellular senescence and the role it plays in diseases associated with aging, UNITY’s ability to develop therapeutics that slow, halt or reverse the progression of diseases associated with aging, including ophthalmic and neurological diseases, UNITY’s ability to successfully initiate and complete clinical trials of UBX1325 for DME and other ophthalmic diseases, the expected timing of enrollment and results of clinical trials of UBX1325, and expectations regarding the sufficiency of UNITY’s cash runway. These statements involve substantial known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, including risks of delays or interruptions in enrollment in clinical trials, risks associated with the uncertainties inherent in the drug development process, and risks associated with UNITY’s understanding of aging biology. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Actual results or events may differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in any forward-looking statements we make. The forward-looking statements in this press release represent our views as of the date of this press release. We expect that subsequent events and developments will cause our views to change. However, although we may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we do not currently intend to do so, except as required by applicable law. Accordingly, these forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any time after the date of this press release. For more information about risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks related to our business generally, please refer to UNITY’s most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 14, 2024, and other documents UNITY may file with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time.
Media Contact
Inizio Evoke Communications
Katherine Smith
Katherine.Smith@inizioevoke.com
Investor Contacts
LifeSciAdvisors LLC
Joyce Allaire
jallaire@lifesciadvisors.com
