Diorasis Taps M&A Veteran for Board, Signals Glaucoma Therapy Push

BOSTON, MA – January 09, 2026 – Diorasis Therapeutics, a biotechnology firm at the forefront of developing gene therapies for blinding eye diseases, has appointed a seasoned healthcare dealmaker to its board, a move that signals a strategic pivot from pure research toward aggressive commercialization as its lead candidate for glaucoma approaches human trials.

The Boston-based company announced today that Richard A. Kresch, MD, a psychiatrist turned serial entrepreneur with a formidable track record of building and selling healthcare companies for hundreds of millions of dollars, will join its Board of Directors. The appointment comes at a critical juncture for Diorasis, which has successfully completed a Pre-Investigational New Drug (IND) meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and initiated the complex manufacturing process for its novel, single-dose glaucoma treatment.

“As we advance toward clinical development, Richard’s track record of capital formation, strategic growth, and successful exits will strengthen our governance and support long-term value creation,” said Remis Bistras, Chief Executive Officer of Diorasis Therapeutics, in a statement. The move is being interpreted by industry observers as a clear sign that Diorasis is laying the groundwork for the immense financial and strategic challenges of late-stage clinical development and market entry.

A Track Record of High-Value Exits

Dr. Kresch is not a typical board appointee for an early-stage biotech. He is a proven architect of healthcare businesses, known for scaling operations and orchestrating lucrative exits for investors. His most notable success was Ascend Health Corporation, a psychiatric hospital company he founded in 2005. Under his leadership as CEO, Ascend grew into the largest privately-held company in its sector, generating $200 million in annual revenue. In 2012, healthcare giant Universal Health Services (NYSE: UHS) acquired Ascend in a deal valued at approximately $517 million.

Prior to that, Dr. Kresch founded Heartland Health Development, another psychiatric care provider that was acquired by Psychiatric Solutions in 2004, which itself was later absorbed into a larger public entity. He continues this work as the Founder and CEO of his current venture, US HealthVest, which develops and operates behavioral health hospitals across the U.S. and recently secured a $130 million credit facility to fuel its expansion.

Bringing this level of M&A and capital formation expertise to a preclinical company’s board is a powerful statement. It suggests that Diorasis and its backers are not only confident in their science but are also strategically planning for a future that could involve major financing rounds, strategic partnerships, or an eventual acquisition.

The Promise of a Single Shot to Save Sight

At the heart of this strategic maneuvering is a technology that could revolutionize the treatment of glaucoma, a leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. The disease, often called the “silent thief of sight,” affects tens of millions and is typically managed with a lifelong regimen of daily eye drops, and in more severe cases, laser treatments or invasive surgery. The global market for these treatments is valued at over $6.5 billion annually, but the current standard of care is fraught with challenges, most notably patient non-adherence to the burdensome daily drop schedules, which leads to disease progression and vision loss.

Diorasis aims to replace this with a single-injection gene therapy. The company's lead program is designed to be a durable, one-time treatment that addresses the underlying drivers of the disease, primarily elevated intraocular pressure (IOP).

The scientific foundation of this approach is a proprietary platform that combines advanced vector engineering with an in vivo “biofactory.” In simple terms, the therapy uses a harmless viral vector to deliver a therapeutic gene into specific cells within the eye. Once there, these cells are transformed into miniature factories, continuously producing and secreting a protein that helps regulate eye pressure. This approach promises sustained, long-term disease control from a single administration, potentially freeing patients from the daily burden of existing treatments and offering better protection against vision loss.

“A durable, single-dose therapeutic solution for glaucoma could represent both a clinical breakthrough and a compelling value proposition,” Dr. Kresch noted in the company’s press release. “I look forward to supporting Diorasis as it executes its development and growth strategy.”

Navigating the Path from Lab to Market

The appointment of Dr. Kresch is timed perfectly with Diorasis’s transition into the most perilous and capital-intensive phase of its lifecycle. Having navigated a successful Pre-IND meeting with the FDA and initiated GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) manufacturing, the company is now on a 12-to-24-month path toward its first-in-human clinical trial. This stage is notoriously difficult, requiring tens of millions of dollars and rigorous adherence to the FDA's stringent regulatory standards for gene therapies.

Gene therapy manufacturing is particularly complex and costly, and regulators maintain a high bar for safety and product consistency. The journey from a lab-scale process to producing a clinical-grade product that is safe for human injection is a monumental undertaking. Dr. Kresch’s experience in scaling complex healthcare operations and securing substantial financing will be invaluable in guiding the executive team through this process.

While the eye is considered an ideal environment for gene therapy due to its immune-privileged status—as demonstrated by approved therapies like Luxturna for an inherited retinal disease—Diorasis is tackling a more complex, non-monogenic disease that affects a much broader population. Successfully developing a therapy for glaucoma would represent a major leap forward for the field. The addition of a board member with deep financial and strategic acumen underscores the company's commitment to navigating these hurdles and realizing the enormous potential of its technology.