Advanced Cell hires new CEO
Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), a Marlborough-based biotechnology firm that is developing stem cell treatments for diseases causing blindness, has hired an industry veteran as its new president and CEO.
Paul Wotton was appointed to lead ACT by the company board of directors, according to a June 24 statement. ACT called Wotton a “highly regarded veteran of the biopharmaceutical industry,” with a track record of leading companies to commercial success.
Wotton, who was previously president and CEO of Antares Pharma Inc., is assuming his position at ACT at a critical time for the company. In an April interview, Edward Myles, ACT’s chief financial officer and executive vice president of corporate development, said ACT was transitioning from its status as a research company, to a clinical-stage ophthalmology company.
Wotton’s appointment also follows a difficult period for the company. ACT agreed to pay $4.1 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission in January due to alleged stock violations, and former CEO Gary Rabin left the company after he allegedly failed to report his sale of shares of company stock between 2011 and 2013.
Michael Heffernan, chairman of the ACT Board of Directors, said that, with most of those issues behind the company, Wotton arrives as the company enters phase-2 development of treatments for Stargardt disease, a genetic condition that causes progressive vision loss, and age-related macular degeneration, which usually affects people 65 and older.
“We are very pleased to attract an executive of Paul’s caliber. His experience in leading Antares from a biopharmaceutical company in early-stage clinical development, to a commercial enterprise approaching profitability, should prove invaluable as ACT moves its scientific platform through the clinic and focuses on commercial and partnership opportunities,” Heffernan said.
Wotton said he is “delighted” to join ACT at a time of “pivotal growth.”
“I believe we have an incredible opportunity to bring these novel therapies to patients in need and I am very pleased to be part of this initiative,” Wotton said.
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