EWING, N.J., Aug. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Antares Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATRS) today announced the appointment of James P. Tursi M.D. to the position of Executive Vice President, Head of Research & Development, Chief Medical Officer effective August 6, 2018. Dr. Tursi has a diversified corporate background including 15 years of drug development experience within the biotech and pharmaceutical industry.

Most recently, Dr. James Tursi was the Chief Medical Officer of Aralez Pharmaceuticals Inc. and served in this role with the company’s predecessor, POZEN Inc., since October 1, 2015. Prior to Aralez, James served as Chief Medical Officer of Innocoll AG where he was responsible for managing all clinical research and development, medical affairs and safety activities for product candidates and medical devices which utilized a proprietary collagen-based technology. Prior to joining Innocoll, Dr. Tursi served as Chief Medical Officer at Auxilium Pharmaceuticals Inc. from 2011 to 2015, and Vice President of Clinical Research & Development from 2009 to 2011. He was responsible for oversight of clinical and nonclinical development programs, clinical operations, medical affairs and global safety activities focused on urology. Prior to Auxilium, he served as Director of Medical Affairs for GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals from 2006 to 2009 and directed all medical affairs responsibilities for the cervical cancer vaccine in North America. Dr. Tursi entered the pharmaceutical industry in 2004 as a Medical Director for Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals until 2006. Dr. Tursi was a board certified physician and previously practiced medicine and surgery for over 10 years. He received his doctor of medicine degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania and completed his residency training at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Tursi serves as a member of the board of directors of Agile Therapeutics.

Robert F. Apple, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, stated, “We are very pleased to have Dr. Tursi join the executive leadership team at Antares Pharma, bringing with him extensive drug development, clinical and medical affairs experience. I believe that adding James to the Antares team will have a positive impact on our goal of expanding our internal and external pipeline, given our focus on developing novel proprietary drug device combination products.”

About Antares Pharma

Antares Pharma, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of self-administered parenteral pharmaceutical products using advanced drug delivery auto injection technology. The Company has a portfolio of proprietary and partnered commercial products with several product candidates in advanced stages of development, as well as significant strategic alliances with industry leading pharmaceutical companies including Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd. (Teva) and AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Antares Pharma’s proprietary products include OTREXUP^® (methotrexate) injection for subcutaneous use and Sumatriptan Injection USP, which is distributed by Teva. The Company has developed an investigational new drug for testosterone replacement therapy called XYOSTED™, currently under active review at the FDA with a PDUFA date of September 29, 2018.