BUFFALO, N.Y., Sept. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Kinex Pharmaceuticals is pleased to announce that Dr. David Hangauer has formally accepted a full time role with the company as its Chief Science Offer. Dr. Hangauer has taken early retirement from his academic duties at the University at Buffalo where he was an Associate Professor of Chemistry. His academic efforts focused primarily on developing protein based kinase inhibitors and he has received numerous awards and honors for his superior research, diverse innovations and strong entrepreneurship. Dr. Hangauer has been on a leave of absence from the University for the past 18 months and during this leave has dedicated his time to advancing Kinex's various clinical and pre-clinical programs.
"Dave has been a cornerstone of the Kinex team since he helped co-found the company in 2004," stated Dr. Allen Barnett, President Emeritus of Kinex. "His tireless efforts at both Kinex and the University have led to important advancements in the understanding of kinase inhibition as well as providing the potential for improving patient results in difficult to treat diseases like cancer. We are thrilled to have Dave's commitment to apply his considerable experience and knowledge to our programs on a full time basis."
"My time at the University at Buffalo has been an enormously enriching experience," said Dr. Hangauer. "My colleagues, students and research programs have been an integral part of my life. Transitioning from Big Pharma to an academic setting more than two decades ago was the right decision. However, for the past year and a half I have been on a leave of absence from the University and have been effectively working for Kinex full time. With its clinical programs rapidly advancing, I decided it was in the best interest of Kinex for me to officially retire from my faculty position and devote the rest of my career to the company. The 24 years that I have taught chemistry and carried out basic research at the University have been very gratifying, but bringing life changing drugs to thousands of patients is even more rewarding. Kinex was initially formed from the basic research in my academic lab, and it is important to me, along with my dedicated and talented colleagues, to continue to help Kinex develop novel clinical solutions. I am very much looking forward to focusing solely on improving outcomes and, therefore, lives."
Dr. Johnson Lau, CEO and Chairman of Kinex, added, "Dr. Hangauer is a phenomenal and dedicated drug discovery scientist and a humble and honorable person and I am delighted to have worked by his side for the last 10 years. Kinex was founded based on his research and he has continued to help Kinex to evolve and grow since its inception. His discovery and development successes with KX01 and KX02 have allowed Kinex to forge important strategic relationships with Hanmi Pharmaceutical, PharmaEssentia, and Xiangxue Pharmaceuticals, which allows us to further our global development strategy. His scientific leadership is the key to the remarkable productivity of the Kinex research team. He is a great team player with an unmatched work ethic and I am honored to have worked with him over the last decade. Dave's full time commitment to Kinex is wonderful news for our collaborative partners, shareholders and most importantly, patients. Kinex is proud to have David as our CSO."
About Kinex:
Founded in 2004, Kinex is led by a strong, experienced Management Team and Board of Directors with a track record of achieving value-creating milestones and cumulative experience of over 250 years in both the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. This includes the filing of more than 11 NDAs and 20 INDs with the Food and Drug Administration and the development of more than 10 marketed products, including a number of blockbusters. Kinex has utilized the proprietary platform technologies Mimetica™, Opal™, and Orascovery™ to discover new compounds and to build a pipeline of drug candidates with unique mechanisms that address unmet medical needs with large market potential. With offices in both Buffalo, NY and Hong Kong, Kinex has numerous existing partnerships in Asia and New Zealand, as well as investors throughout the United States and Asia.