Outpost Medicine, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of new treatments of urologic and gastrointestinal disorders, announced the appointment of Scott Byrd as President and CEO as part of a planned transition, succeeding David Socks, Interim CEO, Co-founder of Outpost and Venture Partner with Frazier Healthcare Partners. David Socks will remain on the board of directors.
Outpost also announced that it has closed a $20 million extension of its original Series A financing, bringing the total amount raised to $61 million.
Participating in the extension are new investor, Takeda Ventures and Outpost's leading syndicate of life science venture investors, including Frazier Healthcare Partners, Novo Holdings A/S, Vivo Capital and Adams Street Partners.
“We are thrilled with the addition of Scott and his 25 years of global biopharmaceutical industry experience to our leadership team,” said Dr Tachi Yamada, Chairman of Outpost.
“Scott has a proven record of success across commercialisation, development, manufacturing and capital markets, which we expect will greatly benefit Outpost as we advance our pipeline of novel therapeutics.”
“We are also delighted to have the continued enthusiasm and support of our investor syndicate, including new investor Takeda Ventures with its highly relevant therapeutic area expertise,” said Dr Yamada.
“Proceeds from the Series A extension enable Outpost to shift focus to OP-687, a new class of oral therapy in development for the treatment overactive bladder (OAB) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). We believe OP-687 holds great potential to significantly improve the care of patients with OAB and IBS, disorders that affect more than 1 in 10 people worldwide.”
“I am honoured to join Outpost and work with such a talented team to build a world-class urology and gastroenterology company,” said Scott Byrd.
“The combination of an outstanding clinical stage product candidate in OP-687, an experienced leadership team with deep therapeutic area expertise and premier life science investors ideally positions Outpost to bring novel treatments to patients suffering from OAB and IBS.”
Byrd has more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, most recently serving as President and COO of Acacia Pharma.
Prior to Acacia, he was Senior VP and Chief Commercial Officer of Cadence Pharmaceuticals from 2009 until its acquisition by Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals for $1.4 billion in 2014.
At Cadence, Byrd built the company's commercial and supply-chain infrastructure, and led the launch of OFIRMEV, a market-leading non-opioid injectable analgesic.
Earlier in his career, he served in a variety of roles of increasing responsibility at Eli Lilly and Company, including sales, marketing, development, manufacturing and strategic planning.
Byrd is a member of the board of directors for Acacia Pharma. He holds a BSc in mechanical engineering from Bradley University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
