Anika Therapeutics Appoints Chief Scientific Officer

Anika Therapeutics Inc. has appointed John W. Sheets, Jr., Ph.D., as its new chief scientific officer. Sheets joined Anika from Boston Scientific Corp., where he was senior vice president of corporate research. At Boston Scientific, he was responsible for revitalizing product development by establishing new global processes, creating worldwide technology strategies, and establishing new product sourcing and development networks with a focus on emerging markets.

Sheets replaced Jing-wen Kuo, Ph.D., who left to pursue other opportunities at the end of October. In addition to driving Anika’s research and development efforts, Sheets will lead the company’s regulatory, clinical affairs and engineering function that were overseen by Chief Operating Officer Frank Luppino, who also left Anika at the end of October to pursue other interests. Luppino’s other duties and responsibilities are being distributed among existing senior executives, with operations management reporting directly at the CEO level.

“John’s appointment as chief scientific officer to oversee our technology and pipeline development provides us with significantly stronger leadership in those critical areas,” said Charles H. Sherwood, Ph.D., Anika’s President/CEO. “His R&D expertise, multinational partnership experience, and business acumen will be valuable assets as we advance Anika’s strategic initiatives and prepare the company for the next level of growth. As we welcome John, we also would like to thank Frank and Jing-wen for their many contributions to Anika’s past success.”

Prior to his work at Boston Scientific, Sheets was corporate vice president of R&D and chief technology officer for Bausch and Lomb. He also served as President of Hoya Surgical Optics and worked for Ethicon (Johnson & Johnson), Alcon Laboratories and Iolab Corporation (Johnson & Johnson) in California. Sheets holds a B.S., a M.S., and a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from the University of Florida, Gainesville.

Headquartered in Bedford, Mass., Anika Therapeutics develops, manufactures and commercializes therapeutic products for tissue protection, healing, and repair. These products are based on hyaluronic acid (HA), a naturally occurring, biocompatible polymer found throughout the body. Anika’s products range from orthopedic/joint health solutions led by Orthovisc, a treatment for osteoarthritis of the knee; to surgical aids in the anti-adhesion and ophthalmic fields. The company also offers aesthetic dermal fillers for the correction of facial wrinkles.

Anika’s Italian subsidiary, Anika Therapeutics, S.r.l., provides complementary HA products in orthopedic/joint health and anti-adhesion, as well as therapeutics in areas such as advanced wound treatment and ear, nose and throat care.