Swiss-based eye care company Alcon has appointed Sabri Markabi to senior vice president of research and development and chief scientific officer within the company.
He succeeds Gerald D. Cagle, who retires at the end of June, after 32 years of dedicated service. Sabri previously held the position of vice president, head of development franchise at Novartis Global Development.
Under Cagle's leadership, Alcon's R&D group has grown to 1,300 employees in 18 countries. During his tenure, Alcon developed industry-leading therapies and devices including Patanol and Pataday for ocular allergies, Vigamox for bacterial conjunctivitis, TobraDex for eye infections and inflammation.
"Sabri brings to Alcon a comprehensive approach to scientific discovery, evaluation and development that is impressive and will be of great importance to Alcon and the ophthalmic scientific community," said Cagle. "I have confidence in Sabri's experience and ability to lead our R&D organisation in the research and development of novel vision-saving therapies and devices in the future."
