AsclepiX Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company using computational biology to identify potent peptide regulators of vascular and cellular homeostasis for the treatment of retinal and oncologic diseases, today announced the appointment of Robert J. Dempsey as Chief Executive Officer and President. Mr. Dempsey brings more than two decades of domestic and global experience in the ophthalmic space driving successful drug development, business transactions and commercialization.

"Our board of directors is thrilled to introduce a leader of Bob's caliber for AsclepiX Therapeutics. Bob's strong command of business and proven ability to drive results in ophthalmology make him the right person to lead our team into the future," said Steven Altschuler, M.D., Chairman. "I am confident that Bob will build on the momentum of AXT107 in clinical development."

Previously, Dempsey served as CEO of TearClear in which he led a successful Series B financing and FDA engagements while amplifying their innovative platform, putting TearClear on the map in Ophthalmics. Prior he served as the Global Head of Ophthalmology at Shire, which was acquired by Takeda, and was responsible for one of the top 10 largest biopharma transactions of 2019, the divestiture of the Takeda lead ophthalmic drug, Xiidra®, a transaction of up to $5.3 billion.

"I appreciate AsclepiX' commitment to redefine the standard of care for patients with retinal diseases and am impressed with the high degree of confidence in our clinical development programs, strength of the pipeline and strong cash position to support our growth," Dempsey said. "I am eager to implement a proven value creation playbook that will achieve sustainable growth and create long-term shareholder value by bringing to market a new standard of care that may be more efficacious and durable while reducing the treatment burden for both patients and physicians."

About AXT107
AXT107 emerged from AsclepiX's computational biology-based discovery platform and is derived from a cryptic peptide within collagen IV that works by activating naturally existing, homeostatic mechanisms of angiogenesis. The synergy of AXT107's effect, via two validated pathways and three mechanisms of action, may offer improvement over anti-VEGF therapy alone.

Due to its long half-life and unique intravitreal self-assembling gel depot formation, AXT107 can potentially be dosed as a yearly intravitreal injection, which could dramatically reduce the treatment burden associated with standard therapies. The Tie2 effects complement those of the anti-VEGF action, potentially offering greater improvement in vision gains as well as reduction of vascular leakage and suppression of inflammation. The IND for AXT107 was submitted in November 2020 and was cleared by the FDA in December 2020.

About AsclepiX Therapeutics, Inc.
AsclepiX Therapeutics, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company using computational biology to identify potent peptide regulators of vascular homeostasis that is disrupted in ocular and oncologic diseases. The novel clinical candidate peptides discovered by AsclepiX tap into these naturally existing self-regulating mechanisms, evolved over millions of years, that the body uses to maintain homeostasis and thus restore and maintain health. AXT107, an investigational product candidate and the lead clinical candidate, has a unique mechanism of action that targets two clinically proven pathways of diseases of the retina. For more information, please visit: www.asclepix.com