13 February 2019 - - US-based biopharmaceutical company Omeros Corp. (NASDAQ: OMER) has appointed Thomas F. Bumol, Ph.D., to its board of directors, the company said.

Bumol is executive director of the recently established Allen Institute for Immunology and former longtime senior executive at Eli Lilly and company.

Following a 35-year career at Lilly, Bumol in 2018 joined the Allen Institute for Immunology, which was created by the late philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen and is dedicated to studying the human immune system.

Prior to joining the Allen Institute, Bumol was the senior vice president of biotechnology and Immunology Research and the Site Head of Lilly's biotechnology Center in San Diego.

While at Lilly, Bumol's teams and collaborators advanced over 100 molecules into clinical development, including Trulicity (dulaglutide), Talz (ixekizumab), Emgality (galcanezumab) and mirikizumab.

Through strategic alliances, he and his teams also helped develop and support REOPRO (abciximab) with Centocor as well as Olumiant (baricitinib) with Incyte. Bumol has over 50 publications and reviews and eight issued US patents.

Bumol serves on the University of Michigan Technology Transfer National advisory board, on the board of directors of Pantheryx, and as an advisor to Lilly Ventures. Bumol earned his B.S. degree in microbiology from the University of Michigan and his Ph.D. in microbiology-immunology from the University of Minnesota. 

He completed postdoctoral studies through a fellowship in the Department of Molecular Immunology at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California.

Omeros is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to discovering, developing and commercializing small-molecule and protein therapeutics for large-market as well as orphan indications targeting inflammation, complement-mediated diseases and disorders of the central nervous system.

The company's drug product Omdria (phenylephrine and ketorolac intraocular solution) 1% / 0.3% is marketed for use during cataract surgery or intraocular lens replacement to maintain pupil size by preventing intraoperative miosis (pupil constriction) and to reduce postoperative ocular pain.

In the European Union, the European Commission has approved Omdria for use in cataract surgery and other IOL replacement procedures to maintain mydriasis (pupil dilation), prevent miosis (pupil constriction), and to reduce postoperative eye pain.

Omeros has multiple Phase 3 and Phase 2 clinical-stage development programs focused on: complement-associated thrombotic microangiopathies; complement-mediated glomerulonephropathies; cognitive impairment; and addictive and compulsive disorders.

OMS721 is Omeros' lead human monoclonal antibody targeting MASP-2, the effector enzyme of the complement system's lectin pathway. 

Phase 3 clinical programmes are in progress for OMS721 in hematopoietic stem cell transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy (HSCT-TMA), in immunoglobulin A nephropathy, and in atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome.

In addition, Omeros has a diverse group of preclinical programs and a proprietary G protein-coupled receptor platform through which it controls 54 new GPCR drug targets and corresponding compounds, a number of which are in preclinical development. The company also exclusively possesses a novel antibody-generating platform.