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 named Viral Kansara as vice president, discovery. Kansara brings more than 12 years of experience and expertise in ophthalmic drug discovery, development and delivery to Clearside, according to the announcement. Prior to joining Clearside, Kansara was the global team leader and head of the ocular pharmacokinetic and drug delivery lab in the ophthalmology department at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research.

At Novartis, Kansara’s lab focused on leveraging multiple modalities (biologics, small molecules, gene therapy and long-acting platforms) for the discovery and development of novel treatment therapies for blinding diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma.

“Viral is a talented scientist, with years of experience gaining a unique understanding of the underlying mechanisms leading to sight threatening diseases,” Clearside chief executive officer and president Daniel H. White said in the announcement. “Clearside’s non-clinical programs in areas such as gene therapy and choroidal drug delivery are beginning to yield important information and Dr. Kansara’s expertise will be of significant value as we select and prioritize new discoveries to treat sight threatening conditions that may benefit from our proprietary suprachoroidal treatment approach.”