7 December 2018 - - US-based drug discovery and development company Knopp Biosciences LLC has appointed pharmaceutical industry veteran Mark Kreston as its chief commercial officer, the company said.

Kreston has more than 30 years of experience with global pharmaceutical companies spanning all phases of commercialisation.

In his new role, Kreston will establish and execute global commercialization strategies and plans across the Knopp enterprise, with a particular focus on the company's lead programme, dexpramipexole, an investigational drug candidate poised to enter Phase 3 trials in hypereosinophilic syndrome and Phase 2 trials in eosinophilic asthma.

He will also be responsible for leading Knopp's corporate strategy and business development activities, and will play a key role in the company's capital strategy.

Prior to joining Knopp, Kreston was corporate VP of global marketing, inflammation and immunology at Celgene, where he led the launch of Otezla for psoriasis.

Before that, he served as worldwide VP of global marketing, immunology at Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), where he helped engineer global expansion of the company's immunology business for Remicade and Stelara.

Earlier, at Bristol-Myers Squibb, he was worldwide VP of global marketing, immunology, responsible for launching Orencia for rheumatoid arthritis, and served as president of Consumer Medicines.

Early in his career, he was product manager for Tylenol and Pepcid at McNeil Consumer Healthcare. Kreston holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management.

Knopp Biosciences, based in Pittsburgh, PA, USA, is a privately held drug discovery and development company focused on delivering breakthrough treatments for inflammatory and neurological diseases of high unmet need.

The company's clinical-stage small molecule, dexpramipexole, is entering Phase 3 clinical studies in hypereosinophilic syndrome and Phase 2 clinical studies in eosinophilic asthma.

Knopp's preclinical Kv7 platform is directed to small molecule treatments for neonatal epileptic encephalopathy, other rare epilepsies, tinnitus, and neuropathic pain.