WATERTOWN, Mass., Feb. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Lyra Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: LYRA), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing innovative therapies for the localized treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis, today announced the appointment of John Bishop, Ph.D., as Chief Technology Officer, effective February 27, 2023. Dr. Bishop will lead the commercial scale-up of Lyra’s manufacturing operations for the Company’s late-stage product candidates, LYR-210 and LYR-220.
“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Bishop to Lyra as we advance our in-house manufacturing systems for our proprietary drug-eluting matrix from clinical to commercial stage,” said Maria Palasis, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Lyra. “His vast experience and leadership in manufacturing, systems scale up and commercialization will be instrumental in helping us evolve our manufacturing operations, which is key to our long-term success.”
“I am delighted to join Lyra at this pivotal time in the Company’s advancement,” said Dr. Bishop. “The manufacturing capabilities of Lyra, which uniquely combine drug quality systems with device manufacturing operations, are impressive. I look forward to joining the team as we strive to bring this innovative technology to CRS patients and physicians.”
Dr. Bishop is experienced in overseeing manufacturing operations, with a track record in the development and management of chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) for late-stage biopharmaceutical companies. He joins Lyra from Forma Therapeutics (acquired by Novo Nordisk), where he was Chief Technology Officer. Prior to Forma, he served as senior vice president of pharmaceutical sciences at Epizyme, where he held overall responsibility for the CMC and quality assurance functions. Previously, he held leadership positions in process development and manufacturing at Genocea Biosciences, Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Millennium Pharmaceuticals (now Takeda), DuPont-Merck Pharmaceutical and Alcon Laboratories. Dr. Bishop earned Bachelor of Science degrees in chemistry and German from Tufts University, a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA from Northeastern University. He served as a Captain in the Chemical Corps for the U.S. Army on active duty from 1990 to 1991.
Lyra has approved the issuance of an equity-based award pursuant to its 2022 Inducement Award Plan to John Bishop upon the commencement of his employment. The inducement grant was approved by a majority of the Company’s independent directors and was made as a material inducement to Dr. Bishop’s acceptance of employment with Lyra in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4) as a component of his employment compensation. The inducement grant consists of a non-qualified stock option to purchase an aggregate of 220,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. The inducement grant is subject to the terms and conditions of the award agreement covering the performance stock option grant and the Company’s 2022 Inducement Award Plan.
About Lyra Therapeutics
Lyra Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing therapies for the localized treatment of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Lyra has two investigational product candidates, LYR-210 and LYR-220, in late-stage development for CRS, a highly prevalent inflammatory disease of the paranasal sinuses which leads to debilitating symptoms and significant morbidities. LYR-210 and LYR-220 are bioresorbable polymeric matrices designed to be administered in a brief, in-office procedure and are intended to deliver six months of continuous mometasone furoate drug therapy (7500µg MF) to the sinonasal passages. LYR-210 is designed for surgically-naïve patients and is being evaluated in the ENLIGHTEN Phase 3 clinical program, while LYR-220, an enlarged matrix, is being evaluated in the BEACON Phase 2 clinical trial in patients who have recurrent symptoms despite having had prior ethmoid sinus surgery. These two product candidates are designed to treat the estimated four million CRS patients in the United States who fail medical management each year. For more information, please visit www.lyratherapeutics.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
