On April 9, 2020 BioSpecifics Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: BSTC), a biopharmaceutical company that originated and continues to develop collagenase-based therapies with a first-in-class collagenase-based product marketed as XIAFLEX in North America, reported that the Board of Directors has appointed Joseph Truitt as interim Chief Executive Officer (Press release, BioSpecifics Technologies, APR 9, 2020, View Source [SID1234556234]). He will also serve on the Company’s Board of Directors. Mr. Truitt succeeds J. Kevin Buchi, who served as CEO since October 2019, and has departed the company.
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"We are delighted to have Joe on board and believe he will play a major role in helping to shape the future of BioSpecifics. Joe is a highly experienced biopharma executive with a strong track record of clinical, commercial, and operational leadership. The Board of Directors remains strongly focused on its corporate strategy of fully maximizing near- and long-term sustainable value creation, including full exploration of opportunities within the CCH portfolio of commercial and pipeline assets, as well as identifying external strategic opportunities. We believe BioSpecifics is poised for a new leg of growth bolstered by strong fundamentals," said Jennifer Chao, Chairman of the Board of Directors. "As we continue on this path, we would like to thank Kevin for what he accomplished during his tenure with the company and wish him well in his future endeavors."
Prior to joining BioSpecifics, Mr. Truitt was most recently Chief Executive Officer of Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. since May 2018. He joined the company in 2009 and had previous roles of Chief Operations Officer and Chief Commercial Officer. Under his leadership, the company was acquired by Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for $1.2 billion. Mr. Truitt joined Achillion from Viropharma, Inc. following its acquisition of Lev Pharmaceuticals. At Lev, Mr. Truitt was most recently Vice President of Business Development and Product Strategy and led the build out of the commercial team and infrastructure in preparation for product launch. Mr. Truitt joined Lev from Johnson & Johnson, where he was Vice President of Sales and Operations and directed commercial operations and had P&L responsibility for sales, operations and national accounts at the company’s OraPharma subsidiary. Mr. Truitt holds a BS degree in Marketing from LaSalle University, Philadelphia, and an MBA degree from St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia.
"I am excited to take on the role of interim CEO of BioSpecifics. There are very significant value creation opportunities and I look forward to working closely with the Board of Directors and team to fully execute on the Company’s clearly defined corporate objectives," said Joseph Truitt, interim Chief Executive Officer.