Graybug Vision Inc. (GRAY) Appoints Dirk Sauer to its Board

Graybug Vision, Inc. (Nasdaq: GRAY), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing transformative medicines for the treatment of ocular diseases, today announced the appointment of Dirk Sauer, PhD, to the Graybug Board of Directors, effective April 13, 2022. Dr. Sauer will serve as a member of the Nomination and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board. He will also chair the Science and Innovation Committee, the purpose of which is to advise the Board on the company’s research and development as well as clinical manufacturing and control strategies.

Dr. Sauer succeeds Gerald Cagle, PhD, who is retiring from the Graybug Board after eight years of service. Dr. Cagle will continue to advise the Graybug Executive Team and the Board as a member of the Science and Innovation Committee.

"On behalf of the entire Board, I would like to thank Jerry for his significant contributions, as well as his leadership in establishing Graybug’s Science and Innovation Committee,” said Christy Shaffer, PhD, Chair of the Graybug Board. “We are pleased to welcome Dirk Sauer to the Board as Jerry’s successor. His deep expertise in ophthalmic drug development will be invaluable as Graybug continues to advance its pipeline to address vision-threatening ocular diseases with high unmet needs."

Dr. Sauer is an expert in global pharmaceutical development with more than 30 years of experience in ophthalmology and neuroscience. He successfully led numerous projects and teams during all phases of the drug development process. Prior to retiring from Novartis in 2021, Dr. Sauer led the company’s Ophthalmology Development Unit for more than nine years, and during that time built a development portfolio for treatments of both the back and front of the eye, including small molecules, biologics, gene therapies and digital therapeutics.

Dr. Sauer joined Ciba-Geigy in 1989 as a postdoctoral fellow in the Neuroscience Preclinical Research Department. He subsequently held various positions of increasing responsibilities within preclinical, clinical research, and project management working on acute and chronic neurodegenerative diseases such as stroke, head trauma, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and ALS at Ciba-Geigy and Novartis. In 2005, Dr. Sauer joined the Ophthalmology Business Unit at Novartis as Senior Global Project Leader for Visudyne and Lucentis. In 2011, Dr. Sauer was appointed Global Development Unit Head for the Novartis Ophthalmology Development Unit, which subsequently included the development unit of the former Alcon Pharma franchise. Dr. Sauer has a degree in Pharmacy from the University of Münster, and a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Marburg, Germany.

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