Koru Medical Systems (Nasdaq:KRMD) announced today that it appointed Brent Rutland as its new VP of medical affairs.

Rutland joins the Mahwah, New Jersey-based drug delivery technology developer with 27 years of experience in the space. Most recently, he served as a senior director for health outcomes at La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company.

Among his previous roles is senior medical science liaison at Baxter. Over the course of Rutland’s career, he helped launch seven vaccines, four drugs and one device, according to a news release. Rutland aided Baxter with its launch of Hylenex for subcutaneous rehydration.

“We are excited to bring Brent’s competence to the organization – his background was a perfect fit. His expertise will advance clinical evidence generation in support of our product pipeline, provide valuable insight to our drug therapy candidates and help develop important key opinion leader relationships,” said Linda Tharby, Koru president and CEO. “Brent has helped build multiple data and clinical strategies, internal teams, and external networks in his past. His deep industry experience and passion for the patient will make him an impactful contributor to the company’s strategy.”

Rutland’s position at Koru

Rutland’s role at Koru includes providing leadership for clinical and data generation strategies. Responsibilities also cover assessing new subcutaneous drug candidates for use with the company’s products and overseeing the medical affairs team.

Additionally, Koru plans for Rutland to serve as the clinical resource for its efforts. That includes regulatory submissions and failure modes and effects analysis. It also extends to health hazard evaluations, human factors design, new product development and clinical evaluation updates.

“I was immediately drawn to the opportunity to work at Koru Medical as I saw the potential for future growth supported by building out the medical science and the team,” said Rutland. “Medical affairs helps fulfill the unmet needs of the patient through the generation and delivery of scientific evidence to various key outside stakeholders. I look forward to developing a collaborative strategy to support the company’s overall goals.”