Kala Pharmaceuticals Appoints Francis Mah, MD, as Chief Medical Advisor
Kala Pharmaceuticals announced the appointment of Francis Mah, MD, as Chief Medical Advisor. In this new role, Dr. Mah will provide support for Kala’s clinical development and medical activities and will play a key role in interactions with eye care professionals. Dr. Mah will serve in this role on a part time basis while continuing his ongoing position as Director of Cornea and External Disease and the Co-Director, Refractive Surgery, at Scripps Clinic.
“We are thrilled to welcome Francis to Kala as our Chief Medical Advisor. His deep expertise in corneal disease, along with his strong background in research and his experience serving as principal investigator on a number of clinical trials, will be extremely valuable in helping us advance the development of KPI-012 for persistent corneal epithelial defect (PCED) and other rare diseases,” Kim Brazzell, Head of R&D and Chief Medical Officer of Kala Pharmaceuticals, said in a company news release. “Earlier this week we were excited to announce positive safety data from the first cohort of our CHASE (Corneal Healing After SEcretome therapy) Phase 2b clinical trial evaluating KPI-012 for PCED and to share that this trial is advancing to the second and final cohort. With the CHASE trial underway, we look forward to collaborating with Francis to expand our efforts into additional rare diseases of the eye, where KPI-012’s multifactorial mechanism of action may prove beneficial.”
“I am very excited about Kala’s innovative mesenchymal stem cell secretome platform, which I believe can provide a novel solution to improve the care and treatment of multiple rare and severe ocular diseases,” Dr. Mah said in a company news release. “I am particularly excited to partner with the Kala team to advance KPI-012 for the treatment of PCED. As a physician, I am acutely aware of the need for new options, which can safely and effectively facilitate rapid and sustained wound healing, regardless of the underlying disease etiology. I believe KPI-012 has the potential to offer a broad-based treatment option for patients suffering from PCED and look forward to supporting the company in its execution of the CHASE trial, while also exploring opportunities to expand KPI-012 for the treatment of additional rare ocular diseases.”
Dr. Mah brings over 20 years of clinical practice as a board-certified ophthalmologist and is an esteemed educator who has disseminated his expertise through more than 80 peer-reviewed papers and various book chapters on his research and has delivered presentations in more than 20 countries on 6 continents. Dr. Mah specializes in advanced corneal, cataract and refractive surgery, and is currently the Director of Cornea and External Disease and the Co-Director, Refractive Surgery at Scripps Clinic Medical Group in La Jolla, CA.