Glaukos Corporation Hires Chief Medical Officer

Glaukos Corporation, an ophthalmic medical technology company developing and commercializing glaucoma products and treatment procedures, has hired L. Jay Katz, M.D., FACS, as chief medical officer.
 
Katz is currently a practicing ophthalmologist, the director of glaucoma service at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, Pa., and a professor of ophthalmology at Jefferson Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University. In addition, he has authored numerous books on ophthalmology, published more than 200 articles in ophthalmic journals and is on the editorial board for Journal of Glaucoma, Survey of Ophthalmology, Graefe’s Archives of Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology and The Open Ophthalmology Journal. After receiving his medical degree from Yale University Medical School in 1979, Katz completed an internship in internal medicine at the University of Virginia, a residency in ophthalmology at Yale and a fellowship in glaucoma at Wills Eye Hospital.
 
Katz is actively involved in numerous ophthalmic professional organizations and glaucoma foundations. He is a former member of the board and past treasurer of the American Glaucoma Society, a diplomate and associate examiner for the American Board of Ophthalmology and a fellow, member-at-large and past president of the Philadelphia Metro chapter of the American College of Surgeons.
 
“We are delighted and honored to welcome Dr. Katz to our senior leadership team,” said Thomas Burns, Glaukos president and CEO. “As evidenced by his many professional accomplishments and contributions to the practice of medicine, Dr. Katz is among the world’s foremost experts on glaucoma. We are confident that he will play an integral role in helping Glaukos continue to pioneer the worldwide development and expansion of Micro-Invasive Glaucoma Surgery, or MIGS.”
 
A former medical monitor for various Glaukos clinical trials, Katz has also been an investigator in landmark glaucoma trials, including the Advanced Glaucoma Intervention Study (AGIS) and Collaborative Initial Glaucoma Treatment Study (CIGTS). In his role as Glaukos chief medical officer, Katz’s responsibilities will include providing input and counsel on product development, clinical trial designs and surgeon training; overseeing global post-market medical safety programs; and collaborating with academic institutions, professional societies, cooperative groups and other strategic and scientific entities focused on the understanding and advancement of glaucoma patient care.
 
“Glaucoma is an insidious, asymptomatic disease that causes vision loss in millions of people worldwide,” said Katz. “I have long admired and appreciated the work Glaukos is undertaking to provide new, viable treatment options for glaucoma patients and the surgeons who care for them. I look forward to beginning the next phase of my career as part of the Glaukos organization as it continues to build MIGS awareness and adoption across the clinical community while also pursuing a range of promising next-generation therapies.“
 
In this new role, Katz will initially be employed by Glaukos on a part-time basis, while maintaining his ophthalmology practice in Philadelphia and involvement with clinical research and medical education.
 
Glaukos pioneered Micro-Invasive Glaucoma Surgery, or MIGS, to revolutionize the traditional glaucoma treatment and management paradigm. Glaukos launched the iStent, its first MIGS device, in the United States in July 2012 and is leveraging its platform technology to build a comprehensive and proprietary portfolio of micro-scale injectable therapies designed to address the complete range of glaucoma disease states and progression. The company believes the iStent, measuring 1.0 mm long and 0.33 mm wide, is the smallest medical device ever approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The company is headquartered in San Clemente, Calif.