SIFI Appoints Jelle Kleijn to Lead Effort to Deliver First Registered Treatment of Acanthamoeba Keratitis
SIFI has announced the recent appointment of Jelle Kleijn, PhD, as Global Head of Acanthamoeba keratitis.
Dr. Kleijn will lead the efforts aimed at developing and making polihexanide monotherapy available to Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) patients. Given the urgency to effectively treat AK to avoid blindness, Dr. Kleijn leads a newly-established dedicated team to accelerate the launch of this potentially first licensed treatment for this severe eye infection in Europe, United States and elsewhere.
A global pharma executive with extensive experience stemming from drug development, through medical, market access to sales & marketing, Dr. Kleijn has long standing experience in leadership roles in large pharmaceutical and biotech companies. He and his team have been directly responsible for delivering new treatments to patients suffering from rare and often acutely life-threatening diseases. Dr. Kleijn holds a PhD and a MSc in Medical Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Groningen.
“I have spent many years of my career working actively to find innovative treatment approaches for patients affected by rare and life-changing disorders. It is with great pleasure that I join the SIFI team to help advance treatment for AK, a devastating acute eye infection,” Dr. Kleijn said in a company news release. “No patients should feel left behind as my mission is to make sure we help finding everyone with this severe eye infection, and being able to provide them with an approved treatment, as early as possible.”
“We are pleased to welcome Jelle Kleijn to the SIFI team,” Fabrizio Chines, Chairman and CEO, said in the news release. “Acanthamoeba keratitis is an ultra-rare acute infection of the eye that potentially leads to blindness, and eye loss. Jelle experience matches the unique challenges that our organization faces to bring SIFI’s first orphan drug to market and, more importantly, the first registered treatment for this severe eye infection. I’m confident that the appointment of Jelle will lead to a positive impact on Acanthamoeba keratitis patients around the world.”
SIFI has recently completed patient enrollment in the pivotal phase 3 ODAK trial, comparing polihexanide 0.08% monotherapy versus the combination of polihexanide 0.02% and propamidine 0.1%. SIFI expects topline results in the second half 2021. Polihexanide has already been granted orphan drug designation for the treatment of AK in both the European Union and United States. It has taken 13 years for the development process of polihexanide as a high-dose 0.08% monotherapy to reach this point. Notably, if approved, it will become the first medicine to be licensed for AK globally.