DALLAS, Nov. 2, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arog Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of drugs to treat unmet medical needs in oncology, today announced the appointment of Ada Braun, M.D., Ph.D., as senior vice president of clinical development. Dr. Braun will be responsible for the clinical development and regulatory strategy and will be a member of the company's management team.
"We are pleased to welcome Dr. Braun to Arog at this critical stage in our company's growth," said Vinay Jain, M.D., chief executive officer of Arog Pharmaceuticals. "Dr. Braun's extensive academic and industry experience in clinical development and her proven track record of execution make her the ideal choice to lead our clinical programs as we prepare to advance our pipeline of oncology treatments."
Dr. Braun joins Arog from Biothera where she was chief medical officer. Previously, Dr. Braun held senior roles at Amgen and most recently served as executive medical director of global development in the hematology/oncology division. Prior to her eight years at Amgen, Dr. Braun conducted preclinical, phase I and II clinical and translational oncology research at Vanderbilt University.
Dr. Braun received her Ph.D. from the University of Duisburg-Essen Medical School in Essen, Germany and an M.D. from Georg-August-Universität in Göttingen, Germany.
"I am delighted to join the Arog team and to lead the development of a robust clinical program to advance our pipeline of oncology treatments," said Dr. Braun. "I look forward to building and implementing clinical and regulatory strategies to realize the full potential of our lead asset crenolanib and our benzimidazole platform."
About Arog Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Arog Pharmaceuticals is a private, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that has leveraged its platform of benzimidazole derivatives to develop a robust drug pipeline of orally available, potent, and selective small molecule type I kinase inhibitors. Arog is poised to enroll patients in pivotal, randomized Phase III trials of its lead molecule, crenolanib. In addition to the four clinical trials it has already completed, Arog is also engaged in three ongoing Phase II clinical trials. For more information, please visit the company's website, http://www.arogpharma.com.
About Crenolanib
Arog's lead molecule, crenolanib, is currently being clinically investigated as a treatment for multiple cancers, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), glioma, and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It is an orally bioavailable benzimidazole type I kinase inhibitor that selectively and potently inhibits signaling of wild-type and mutant isoforms of class III receptor tyrosine kinases FLT3 and PDGFRa/ß. This molecule has an established record of patient safety and has been used to treat over 250 patients from around the world.
About FLT3
FLT-3 is a class III receptor tyrosine kinase, and its signaling is considered important for the normal development of hematopoietic stem cells and progenitor cells. The FLT-3 gene is one of the most frequently mutated genes (~35%) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). One such mutation, internal tandem duplications of FLT-3 (FLT3-ITD), is a prognostic indicator associated with adverse disease outcome.
About PDGFRa/ß
Platelet-derived growth factor receptors (PDGFR) a and ß are cell surface tyrosine kinase receptors and are important factors regulating cell proliferation and cell development, as well as several diseases, including cancers like brain tumors and sarcomas. In clinical tests, crenolanib has been shown to inhibit both PDGFR a and ß phosphorylation, thus preventing downstream signaling.
CONTACT: The Trout Group Peter Rahmer (646) 378-2973 [email protected]