Aerie Pharmaceuticals Appoints Gary Sternberg, MD, MBA, as Chief Medical Officer
Aerie Pharmaceuticals announced that Gary Sternberg, MD, MBA, will join the company as Chief Medical Officer (CMO), effective March 1, 2022. He will report to Raj Kannan, Chief Executive Officer of Aerie Pharmaceuticals and become a member of the Aerie Executive Committee.
Dr. Sternberg is an ophthalmologist who is fellowship trained in cornea and external diseases (defined as diseases around the eye, including the surface of the eye and eyelids/skin). He is also a biopharmaceutical executive with relevant experiences in clinical development, medical affairs, strategy, and business development. As CMO, Dr. Sternberg will provide strategic direction on Aerie’s global product portfolio strategy to bring products to market in compliance with global regulatory, legislative, and medical/health requirements.
“I am pleased to welcome Dr. Gary Sternberg to Aerie and believe his broad industry experience will be very valuable to us. Gary brings a unique understanding of our targets and pipeline programs. In addition, he has a successful track record of corporate development deal making and in building effective collaborations,” said Raj Kannan, Chief Executive Officer of Aerie. “I look forward to working with Gary to advance our clinical portfolio, to help us make smart choices in advancing our pipeline, and to raise Aerie’s profile within the global eye care community.”
“I have dedicated my career to developing novel ophthalmology products that could make the lives of patients and members of the global eye care community better. I am very excited to join Aerie because I believe the company is at an important inflection point, with an exciting first-in-class glaucoma franchise, and a pipeline that has the potential to make a meaningful difference in the lives of patients. I look forward to working with Raj and the talented team at Aerie to help realize the full promise of our pipeline," Dr. Sternberg said.
Dr. Sternberg brings to Aerie more than 20 years of experience in clinical and drug development, medical affairs, strategy and business development and technology evaluation. He has also held leadership roles in global pharmaceutical companies and start-ups. Dr. Sternberg joins Aerie from RainBio Inc., where he served as Acting CEO. Prior to his work at RainBio, he was the CEO, President and Co-Founder of Stargazer Pharmaceuticals Inc., where he led the company from inception to the development of a “Phase 3 ready” product candidate for Stargardt disease. Prior to that, Dr. Sternberg was CEO of Tisbury Pharmaceuticals Inc., where he led the development of a novel glaucoma compound for treatment of elevated intraocular pressure.