MALVERN, Pa., Oct. 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ocugen, Inc., (NASDAQ:OCGN), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing a pipeline of innovative therapies that address rare and underserved eye diseases, today announced the appointment of Sanjay S. Subramanian, MBA, to the role of Chief Financial Officer, effective October 1, 2019.

Mr. Subramanian commented, "I am excited to join Ocugen at this important time in the company's journey. Ocugen is uniquely positioned through the advancements in its modifier gene therapy platform, biologics, and small molecules to develop innovative ocular therapies. Its commitment to serve patients in treating rare and underserved eye diseases is palpable. I look forward to working with Dr. Musunuri and the talented leadership team at Ocugen in bringing such innovative & meaningful therapies to patients and creating value for all stakeholders."

Mr. Subramanian brings more than 20 years' experience in finance and operations strategy to Ocugen, serving most recently as CFO for a public company, Aralez Pharmaceuticals.  He joined Aralez's finance leadership team at its inception, helped the company close $350M in financing and took on increasing responsibilities culminating with his appointment as Aralez's CFO.  Prior to his service with Aralez, he held leadership positions at Bausch Health Companies and General Motors, including serving as the Managing Director at its Korea division.  Mr. Subramanian is an experienced leader in corporate finance, capital markets, business development and M&A.  He holds an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management, a Master of Science from both MIT and The Ohio State University and a Bachelor of Technology from Indian Institute of Technology.

About Ocugen, Inc.
Ocugen, Inc. is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing a pipeline of innovative therapies that address rare and underserved eye diseases. The Company offers a robust and diversified ophthalmology portfolio that includes novel gene therapies, biologics, and small molecules and targets a broad range of high-need retinal and ocular surface diseases.  Ocugen is leveraging its groundbreaking modifier gene therapy platform to address genetically diverse inherited retinal disorders (IRDs) and dry AMD, based on nuclear hormone receptor genes NR2E3 (OCU400) and RORA (OCU410), respectively.  OCU400 has received two orphan drug designations (ODD) targeting two distinct IRDs.  Ocugen is also developing novel biologic therapies for wet-AMD, DME and diabetic retinopathy (OCU200), as well as for retinitis pigmentosa (OCU100).  The Company's late-stage Phase 3 trial for patients with ocular graft versus host disease (oGVHD)(OCU300) leverages Ocugen's patented OcuNanoE – Ocugen's ONE Platform™ technology to enhance the efficacy of topical ophthalmic therapeutics. OCU300 is the first and only therapeutic with ODD for oGVHD, providing certain regulatory and economic benefits. For more information, please visit www.ocugen.com.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
 This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We may, in some cases, use terms such as "predicts," "believes," "potential," "proposed," "continue," "estimates," "anticipates," "expects," "plans," "intends," "may," "could," "might," "will," "should" or other words that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to numerous important factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from the Company's current expectations. These and other risks and uncertainties are more fully described in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including the risk factors described in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Histogenics Corporation's Registration Statement on Form S-4 (Reg. No. 333-232147), as amended, filed with the SEC.  Any forward-looking statements that the Company makes in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this press release.