Osteal Therapeutics Expands Leadership Team

Osteal Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company based in Dallas, Texas, has expanded its leadership team with the addition of four new executives.

Osteal Therapeutics has appointed the following leaders to its team: Kathy Burke as vice president of market access; Clay Cohorn as vice president of clinical affairs; Trey Putnam, Ph.D., RAC as vice president of regulatory affairs and quality assurance; and Todd Saunders as vice president of marketing. Each of the new executives brings over 20 years of experience in biopharmaceutical products.

Burke’s experience includes both medical devices and biopharmaceuticals. Prior to joining Osteal Therapeutics, she served as executive director of market access at Spero Therapeutics. Burke has held leadership positions with other notable companies including Flexion Therapeutics, Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Regeneron, and Zimmer.

Cohorn’s career, per his company biography, has focused on the “strategic development and execution of Class III implantable medical device clinical trials.” In his most recent position before joining Osteal Therapeutics he served as the director of clinical research for Abbott Medical Devices. Prior to that role, he managed the clinical trial reimbursement team for St. Jude Medical’s Cardiac Rhythm Management and Neuromodulation clinical trials.

Dr. Putnam’s experience includes biopharmaceutical and medical technology product development, product approval, regulatory affairs, and quality management. His previous positions, per his company biography, include vice president and general manager of Cardinal Health Regulatory Sciences, vice president of regulatory affairs and CMC at FAST BioMedical, and group leader/program manager at MRIGlobal.

Saunders brings extensive life science experience to Osteal Therapeutics. Before joining Osteal Therapeutics, Saunders was the director of strategic marketing at Providence Medical Technology. He has co-founded a number of companies during his career including venture capital firm Medvest Capital and AmelioMed, LLC, a company focused on creating intellectual property for the acute management of spinal cord injuries.

Saunders told OTW, “Patients suffering from periprosthetic joint infection desperately need better treatment options. I am excited about the possibility of VT-X7 making a meaningful difference. It’s humbling to be working on such an important project with a team as talented as this.”

Osteal Therapeutics is focused on creating “novel musculoskeletal therapeutics to treat orthopedic infections and their consequences.” The executives report to Osteal Therapeutics Chief Executive Officer David Thompson.

Thompson expressed excitement about the new additions, commenting, “I am excited to welcome Kathy, Clay, Trey and Todd. It is remarkable how quickly the team coalesced around the goal of lifting the burden of musculoskeletal infections for patients, providers and payers. We are executing like a group that has worked together for years not months.”

Thompson continued, “We now have the right leadership and expertise to deliver on our ambitious 2023 plan and build a world-class organization bringing change to a condition that hasn’t seen significant outcome improvements in two decades.”