Nanoscope Therapeutics Appoints Massoud Motamed, PhD, as VP of Quality

Nanoscope Therapeutics Appoints Massoud Motamed, PhD, as VP of Quality

DALLAS, TX (January 5, 2023) — Nanoscope Therapeutics Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing gene therapies for retinal degenerative diseases, today announced the appointment of Massoud Motamed, PhD, as Vice President of Quality. Dr. Motamed brings nearly a decade of CGMP quality and compliance experience, including extensive experience in manufacturing and regulatory review of gene therapy products.

“Massoud’s experience leading quality and compliance in CGMP manufacturing for gene therapies will be valuable as we progress in our Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) capabilities. This appointment supports the continued advancement of our optogenetic therapies to restore vision in millions of people blinded by retinal diseases and highlights our evolution as a company,” said Sulagna Bhattacharya, CEO of Nanoscope.

“I am thrilled to join the highly motivated team at Nanoscope in the development of its novel approach to treating retinal degenerative disease,” said Dr. Motamed. “I look forward to helping Nanoscope navigate advanced clinical development and upcoming regulatory submissions as the Company continues to progress in its clinical trials.”

Dr. Motamed was most recently a CMC reviewer for the Gene Therapy Branch at the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), the center within the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that regulates biological products for human use under applicable federal laws. Dr. Motamed has received many awards including FDA’s Outstanding Service award from the Office of Regulatory Affairs. Previously, he served as Head of Quality for the Viral Vector Core at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Prior to this, Dr. Motamed held appointments as Head of Auditing and Compliance at Cipla, a global pharmaceutical company, as well as an FDA inspector for pharmaceutical quality and compliance. He holds a PhD in Biochemistry from UT Southwestern Medical Center, an MS in Organic Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and a BS in Biochemistry from Southern Methodist University.

About Nanoscope Therapeutics Inc.
Nanoscope Therapeutics is developing gene-agnostic, sight restoring optogenetic therapies for the millions of patients blinded by retinal degenerative diseases, for which no cure exists. The company’s lead asset, MCO-010, is presently in Phase 2b multicenter, randomized, double-masked, sham-controlled clinical trials in the U.S. for retinitis pigmentosa (NCT04945772) with top-line data expected Q1 2023. The company has also fully enrolled a Phase 2 trial of MCO-010 therapy in Stargardt patients (NCT05417126). MCO-010 has received FDA Fast Track designation for RP and FDA orphan drug designations for RP and Stargardt. Preclinical assets include non-viral laser delivered MCO-020 gene therapy for geographic atrophy.

Investor Contact:
Argot Partners
212-600-1902
[email protected]

Nanoscope Therapeutics, Inc.
Trinity Towers
2777 N. Stemmons Fwy.
Dallas, TX 75207
(817) 857-1186
  • Dr. Samarendra Mohanty, PhD |  Co-Founder & President

    Samarendra Mohanty (Co-Founder/President) is an inventor & serial entrepreneur with 20+ years experience in Biomedical Sciences. He is Co-Founder of several Biotechs and Biomedical device /diagnostic companies (developed & commercialized $100K+ biomedical instruments.)

    Dr. Mohanty obtained M.Tech in Applied Optics from the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi and a PhD in (Bio)Physics from the Indian Institute of Sciences-Bangalore.

    His extensive Biomedical Technologies experience includes serving as Professor/Senior Scientist at the University of Texas;  University of California, Irvine; Center for Adv. Tech (India); Int. Mol. Biotech (Germany); Univ. Pavia (Italy); NUS (Singapore); and University of St. Andrews (UK). He has authored over 200 international patents and publications in leading journals including Nature and Nature Photonics.

    He is the Principal Investigator for major grants from the National Eye Institute including Audacious Goal Initiative and Bioengineering Research grants. He serves on the editorial board of journals and chairs an international conference on optogenetics. He is the winner of a 2019 Healthcare Heroes award (Fort Worth Business Press), Retinal Organoid Challenge Award, Audacious Goal Initiative Award (NIH), Finalist of Tech Titan, and NIH-Director’s Innovator Award.