RE: NEWS: OcuTerra Therapeutics10 Nov 2021 10:41
“OTT166 offers potential significant benefit for patients, caregivers and eye care practitioners by providing a non-invasive treatment option for people suffering from diabetic retinopathy,” said Carl Regillo, M.D., FACS, Chief of the Retina Service at Wills Eye Hospital and Professor of Ophthalmology at Thomas Jefferson University. “In addition to fulfilling the unmet need of offering a non-invasive treatment option, which would be acceptable to more patients, OTT166 can potentially be administered earlier than eye injections, which may prevent severe disease progression and functional vision loss. I am compelled by the early data and believe that OTT166 has the potential to transform the standard of care for patients with this disease.”
OcuTerra Expands Scientific Advisory Board
OcuTerra also announced the appointment of Paul M. Karpecki, OD, FAAO to its Scientific Advisory Board.
“We are delighted to have Dr. Karpecki join our Scientific Advisory Board as we move forward with the development of OTT166,” said David Tanzer, M.D., ophthalmologist and Chief Medical Officer of OcuTerra. “Paul is a leader and pioneer in the eye care field, and his commitment to innovation aligns with our mission to change the standard of care for the treatment of diabetic eye disease.”
“I am thrilled to join the Scientific Advisory Board of OcuTerra and represent the voice of Doctors of Optometry who manage over 70% of all patients with diabetic retinopathy in the U.S.,” said Dr. Karpecki. “Working closely with my fellow advisors from the retina and anterior segment ophthalmology communities, I am very excited about the development of OTT166, a topical drug candidate to prevent diabetic retinopathy disease progression and loss of visual function.”
Dr. Karpecki received his Doctor of Optometry degree from Indiana University and completed a Durrie Fellowship in Medical Cornea/Refractive Surgery in Kansas City in affiliation with the Pennsylvania College of Optometry. In 2017-2018 he completed a full year preceptorship in advanced retinal disease at Retina Associates of Kentucky, one of the top 20 retina practices in the country. He currently serves as Director of Cornea and External Disease for the Kentucky Eye Institute in Lexington KY. Dr. Karpecki is the Chief Clinical Editor for Review of Optometry, the most read journal in the profession, and chairman of the New Technology and Treatment Conferences. He is Medical Director for KEPLR Vision and Director of Cornea and External Disease for the Center for Sight in Carmel, IN. He was appointed to the Delphi International Society at Wilmer Johns Hopkins which included the top 25 dry eye experts in the world and co-chair for the previous two Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society Symposia. Dr. Karpecki served on the DEWS II Diagnostic Methodology Committee. He is also an Associate Professor at the Kentucky College of Optometry in Pikeville, KY and serves on the board of the charitable organization Optometry