Mar 10 2008, 8:10 AM EST
News source: Business Wire
Alcon, Inc. (NYSE:ACL) announced today that Gerald D. Cagle, Ph.D., Alcon's senior vice president of Research and Development and chief scientific officer, will be retiring from the company on June 30, 2008, after 32 years of dedicated service. The company also announced that Sabri Markabi, MD, currently vice president, head of Development Franchise at Novartis Global Development, will succeed Dr. Cagle and join the company as senior vice president of Research and Development on March 27, 2008.
Dr. Cagle began his long and distinguished career at Alcon in 1976 as a senior scientist in Microbiology. He quickly advanced to lead the Product Development organization and was named vice president, Product Development in 1985. He has also served a two-year assignment as the vice president of Regulatory Affairs. Dr. Cagle took over management of the Research and Development (R&D) organization and was named as senior vice president in 1997.
Under Dr. 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(R) and Pataday(R) for ocular allergies, Vigamox(R) for bacterial conjunctivitis, TobraDex(R) for eye infections and inflammation, the AcrySof(R) line of intraocular lenses for cataract surgery, both the Infiniti(R) and Accurus(R) eye surgery systems and the OPTI-Free(R) line of multi-purpose disinfecting solutions.
"Jerry's leadership has been instrumental in expansion and growth of Alcon's global product portfolio and he has been responsible for bringing to market products that have improved the quality of patient care," said Cary Rayment, Alcon's chairman, president and chief executive officer. "Fortunately, Sabri and I will have several months to work with Jerry and draw upon his invaluable experience, judgment and scientific expertise to ensure a smooth transition of R&D leadership."
Dr. Markabi received his medical degree in 1982 from the University of Damascus in Syria. He completed his clinical training and certification in Neurology with additional qualifications in neuropsycopharmacology from the University of Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris France. He then practiced medicine and clinical research as staff neurologist on the faculty of the University Hospital in Tours, France.
In 1991, Dr. Markabi joined CIBA-GEIGY, one of the parent companies of Novartis, as a clinical research physician, Central Nervous System (CNS) and assumed positions of increasing responsibilities in France, Basel, Switzerland and in New Jersey, where he became the global head of CNS, clinical R&D and was involved in the development of various CNS therapies. In 2004, he was appointed vice president, global head of Development for the Ophthalmic Business Unit, where he was member of the executive committee and oversaw all aspects of the Development organization including R&D strategy, experimental medicine, clinical development and regulatory affairs. Earlier this year, Dr. Markabi was appointed to his most recent position of vice president, head of Development Franchise at Novartis Global Development.
"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 Dr. Cagle. "I have confidence in Sabri's experience and ability to lead our R&D organization in the research and development of novel vision-saving therapies and devices in the future."
"I am excited to join Alcon, which will allow me to put my scientific and clinical experience to work in the rapidly advancing field of ophthalmology," stated Dr. Markabi. "I look forward to continuing the success seen under Dr. Cagle's leadership and to working with the industry-leadi
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