Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc announced the appointment of William J. Martone, as Executive Director, Medical Affairs. The Company also announced that it has hired the first of three groups of hospital sales representatives intended to support the U.S. launch of Cubist's investigational antibiotic Cidecin (daptomycin for injection), should it receive regulatory approval. The New Drug Application for Cidecin is currently being reviewed by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration under priority review status, with a targeted action date of September 20, 2003.
Dr. Martone comes to Cubist with over 25 years of infectious disease experience to establish and lead Cubist's Medical Affairs Department. In addition to the role of liaison between the medical community and Cubist, the Medical Affairs Department will also be responsible for pharmacovigilence, drug information, and Phase 3b, Phase 4 and pharmacoeconomic studies. Most recently, Dr. Martone was Senior Executive Director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID), a position held since 1995. Prior to that, he had a distinguished career at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) where he served as the Chief of the Epidemiology Branch of the Hospital Infections Program at the CDC's National Center for Infectious Diseases, ultimately becoming Director of the program. He has served as Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and as Attending Physician, Division of Infectious Diseases at the Washington DC Veterans Administration Medical Center.
Cubist also announced the completion of a key component of its supply chain for Cidecin. Cubist recently entered into an agreement with Integrated Commercialization Solutions Inc (ICS), a subsidiary of AmerisourceBergen Corporation, to warehouse and distribute Cidecin, should it receive U.S. regulatory approval.
Michael W. Bonney, Cubist's President & CEO, commented on today's news: "We could not be more pleased with the addition of Bill to our team, as Medical Affairs will play a key role in the successful launch of Cidecin, if approved. We are also excited about our growing sales organization. Our sales managers have been able to be highly selective in their screening process, and the resultant hires thus far average 11 years of hospital-based sales experience focusing on our top targeted institutions. As we prepare for an expected early November launch of Cidecin," Mr. Bonney concluded, "we feel our ability to manage the launch properly, both monitoring inventory levels and ensuring efficient distribution, should be greatly enhanced by our relationship with ICS."