Atlantic Healthcare Appoints U.S. President and COO

Atlantic Healthcare plc, a gastrointestinal focused pharmaceutical company, has appointed John Temperato as U.S. president and chief operating officer, to lead the commercialization program of alicaforsen in the U.S.

Atlantic Healthcare is developing alicaforsen for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease with results from the Phase III trial in the treatment of orphan-designated IBD pouchitis expected in 1Q19. Pouchitis is a rare and serious form of IBD for which there is no approved therapy and limited treatment options.

Mr. Temperato joins the company from Melinta Therapeutics, where he was president and chief operating officer and chief commercial officer responsible for the commercialization strategy and building the company’s product portfolio. Prior to Melinta, he headed sales and marketing at Salix Pharmaceuticals (now part of Valeant Pharmaceuticals), where he successfully launched numerous products, helping to grow revenue from $119 million in 2004 to $2 billion in 2015.

Toby Wilson Waterworth, chief executive officer at Atlantic Healthcare said, “This appointment is an important step in the growth and development of Atlantic Healthcare. John’s experience of taking pharmaceuticals to market will inform our approach to commercialising alicaforsen enema, which will target gastroenterologists in hospitals and specialist care centres in Europe and the U.S., with first commercial revenues anticipated in H1 2020.”