SEATTLE, March 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Impel NeuroPharma, a late-stage pharmaceutical company focused on utilizing our proprietary technology to develop and commercialize transformative therapies for patients suffering from diseases with high unmet medical needs, today announced the appointments of Leonard S. Paolillo as chief commercial officer and Gerald F. Penn as vice president, market access and trade. These key management additions further the build out of the commercial infrastructure of the organization as it prepares for the potential launch of TRUDHESA™ for the acute treatment of migraine headaches with or without aura in adults later this year, subject to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval.

"I am delighted to welcome these industry professionals to our team at this exciting time in Impel NeuroPharma's evolution into a commercial-stage organization," said Adrian Adams, chairman and chief executive officer of Impel NeuroPharma. "Len and Jerry bring a wealth of commercial strategy and product launch experience in competitive and complex markets, including operationalizing field and managed care teams, market access analytics and formulary negotiations, and product distribution and supply chain management. Collectively, these attributes make them ideal candidates to help the Company as we advance our go-to-market strategy for TRUDHESA™ in acute migraine and continue to progress our other clinical development programs in the acute treatment of agitation and aggression in patients with autism and in Parkinson's disease."

Mr. Paolillo joins Impel NeuroPharma from Kyowa Kirin Inc., the North American affiliate of Kyowa Kirin Co. Ltd., a global specialty pharmaceutical company based in Tokyo, Japan where he served as executive vice president, chief commercial officer. He was responsible for the growth and transformation of the commercial infrastructure to enable the successful launches of the company's pipeline products in hematology/oncology, CNS, and rare disease, which led to more than a 15-fold increase in revenue from 2017 - 2020. Prior, he served as senior director of sales at Warner Chilcott Pharmaceuticals where he led the women's healthcare, osteoporosis and urology sales forces with 29 districts and 300+ representatives. Mr. Paolillo began his healthcare career at EURO RSCG LIFE LM&P, a full-service healthcare advertising agency and holds a B.S. in business administration from Manhattan College.   

Mr. Penn joins Impel NeuroPharma from Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. where he served as vice president of market access and trade and was integral in building out a new commercial department, including managing a team of senior account, contracting and government directors to secure reimbursement and distribution for a new small oral molecule and combination product in the LDL Lipid Market. Prior he served as executive director, market access at Aralez Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he helped launch the company in the U.S. market and assisted with distribution, trade, pricing, product package design and market access strategy for commercial, Part D, and Medicaid plans. Prior to Aralez, Mr. Penn held sales and market access positions at Kaleo, Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, American Regent, Kos Pharmaceuticals, Forest Laboratories, ICI Pharma, Smith Corona Corporation and Schmid Laboratories. Mr. Penn holds a B.S. in marketing from Northern Illinois University.                                            

These key management additions follow the recent appointment of Rigo Canal as vice president, commercial operations and analytics.  Mr. Canal joined Impel NeuroPharma with over 25 years of pharmaceutical operational experience. Most recently he served as head of commercial operations & analytics at Amarin Pharmaceuticals where he led the commercial expansion strategy and sales planning process for the company's cardiovascular market. Prior, he served as senior director, commercial operations at Aralez Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Aralez, Mr. Canal held sales operations and analytics positions at Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, Oscient Pharmaceuticals, Wolters Kluwer's Health (Now Symphony Health) and Kos Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Canal holds a B.A. in business administration from Florida Atlantic University.

About TRUDHESA™:
TRUDHESA™, the Company's lead product candidate, is dihydroergotamine mesylate (DHE) delivered directly into the vascular-rich upper nasal space using Impel's proprietary Precision Olfactory Delivery (POD®) technology. The FDA has set a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) target action date of September 6, 2021, which reflects a standard 10-month review period.

About Impel NeuroPharma:
Impel NeuroPharma, Inc. is a privately held, Seattle-based pharmaceutical company focused on utilizing its proprietary technology to develop and commercialize transformative therapies for people suffering from diseases with high unmet needs, with an initial focus on diseases of the CNS. The Company is rapidly advancing a late-stage product pipeline that pairs our proprietary Precision Olfactory Delivery (POD®) system with well- established therapeutics, including TRUDHESA™ for the acute treatment of migraine, INP105 for the acute treatment of agitation and aggression in patients with autism, and INP107 for OFF episodes in Parkinson's disease. To learn more about Impel NeuroPharma, please visit our website at http://impelnp.com.

Contact:
Melyssa Weible
Elixir Health Public Relations
Phone: (1) 201-723-5805
Email: [email protected]

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SOURCE Impel NeuroPharma