ALPHARETTA, Ga.—Clearside Biomedical Inc. (NASDAQ: CLSD), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing treatments that restore and preserve vision for people with serious eye diseases, has appointed Lester Rodriguez as vice president, quality. As Clearside prepares to transition from a clinical-stage to a commercial-stage company, Rodriguez will be responsible for ensuring that the company continues to design and implement appropriate programs, policies and procedures related to quality assurance and quality control activities across the company and its suppliers, according to an announcement last week.

He will also provide cross-functional compliance oversight of activities involving all recognized quality standards for the pharmaceutical industry, such as good manufacturing practices and good clinical practices.

Rodriguez is an accomplished quality management professional with over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceuticals industry. Before joining Clearside, Rodriguez was vice president of quality for Pharma Tech Industries, the world’s largest pharmaceutical contract manufacturer and packager of powder products. His earlier experience includes quality and manufacturing leadership roles at various pharmaceutical companies, including Ciba Vision, Novartis Ophthalmics and Shionogi Inc.

“Lester is a seasoned quality leader who brings to Clearside a wealth of experience and expertise in pharmaceutical quality assurance, quality control, and quality systems management,” Clearside chief executive officer and president Daniel H. White said in the announcement. “As we plan for the potential commercial launch of our first product, and continue to develop our pipeline of advanced and pre-clinical product candidates, it is important that both Clearside and our suppliers continue to do everything we can to ensure strict quality control and regulatory compliance in our operations.”