EyePoint Pharmaceuticals announced the appointment of George O. Elston as Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development. Elston has previously been a consultant to the Company and will now transition into this permanent role effective immediately. In this role, Elston will lead the Company’s financial, capital markets, and corporate development initiatives. Elston brings more than 25 years of diverse financial and senior leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical sector with both global publicly-traded and privately-held organizations.
“EyePoint is delighted to welcome George during this exciting period of momentum for our ongoing commercial launches of DEXYCU® and YUTIQ® in the U.S.,” said Nancy Lurker, President and Chief Executive Officer of EyePoint Pharmaceuticals. “George has a proven track record of executing value-creating financial and partnering transactions in the biopharmaceutical sector. His expertise will be greatly beneficial as we continue to build our commercial footprint, while assessing our organic growth and business development pipeline opportunities to expand our ophthalmology reach.”
“DEXYCU and YUTIQ have the potential to change the treatment paradigm for these ocular diseases that represent significant areas of unmet need,” said Elston. “I look forward to collaborating with the dedicated EyePoint management team and contributing to the future commercial, clinical and operational growth of the Company.”
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Elston most recently served as Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development at Enzyvant Therapeutics where he helped build the pre-commercial rare disease firm leading to its recent acquisition. He previously was President and Chief Executive Officer at 2X Oncology, where he advanced the Company from a spin-out into a multi-program, clinical-stage organization. He has also held senior executive roles at Juniper Pharmaceuticals, Inc. KBI Biopharma and Optherion. Elston began his career in public accounting at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. He earned his B.B.A. in accounting from Pace University and is a Certified Public Accountant. He currently serves as a Trustee and Audit Committee Chairman of the DWS – DBX ETF Trust.
In connection with the hiring of Elston, the Compensation Committee of Eyepoint Pharmaceutical’s Board of Directors granted stock options to purchase an aggregate of 745,000 shares of common stock as an inducement award material to Elston entering into employment with the Company in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). The stock options have an exercise price equal to the closing price of EyePoint's common stock on November 14, 2019, and will vest as follows: 25% on the first anniversary and monthly through the fourth anniversary of the date of grant, subject to the terms of grant.