MIAMI, Feb. 07, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OPKO Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPK) announced the promotion of Thomas Nusbickel to the newly created position of Chief Commercial Officer of OPKO Health’s Renal Division, effective immediately. In this new role, Mr. Nusbickel will lead the continued commercialization of RAYALDEE® (calcifediol) extended-release capsules for the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) in adults with stage 3 or 4 chronic kidney disease (CKD) and vitamin D insufficiency. Mr. Nusbickel, previously Senior Vice President of Marketing and Market Access, will be responsible for all commercial activities, including sales, marketing and market access.
Mr. Nusbickel has 30 years of commercial biopharmaceutical experience leading launches for specialty products at Abbott Laboratories, Amgen, Hospira and Pfizer. Prior to joining OPKO Health last year, Mr. Nusbickel was Head of U.S. Market Access, Biosimilars for Hospira, a Pfizer company, where he built an industry-leading account sales and market access team to support product launches. Mr. Nusbickel gained deep experience in the nephrology market at Amgen, where he led the successful global launch of Sensipar and secured access and reimbursement for Aranesp and Epogen. He is recognized for his ability to develop and implement high-impact product marketing, value messages and strategies to engage payers and marketing organizations to support product launches and life cycle management.
“We are delighted to promote Tom to Chief Commercial Officer as he has a proven record of successfully launching biopharmaceutical products, including within the nephrology market. Tom's duties will include ensuring that all sales, marketing and market access activities are aligned to meet our strategic commercial objectives. He has done an outstanding job in leading our team since RAYALDEE’s launch in late November 2016, and he will continue to play a central role as we expand RAYALDEE’s market reach to bring this novel therapeutic to the benefit of patients suffering with CKD,” stated Phillip Frost, M.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of OPKO Health.
Separately, OPKO announced the discontinuation of a 20-person internal telemarketing sales team supporting RAYALDEE. Going forward, the company will use only field-based representatives to promote sales of RAYALDEE within the nephrology community.
About RAYALDEE
RAYALDEE (calcifediol) extended-release capsules are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of SHPT in adult patients with stage 3 or 4 CKD and serum total 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels less than 30 ng/mL. RAYALDEE is not indicated for the treatment of SHPT in patients with stage 5 CKD or end-stage renal disease on dialysis. RAYALDEE has a patented formulation and is designed to raise serum total 25-hydroxyvitamin D (prohormone) concentrations to targeted levels (at least 30 ng/mL) and to reduce elevated intact parathyroid hormone (PTH). The full prescribing information for RAYALDEE is available at www.rayaldee.com.
