Dr. George Siber Joins Ancora Pharmaceuticals Scientific Advisory Board
FORMER WYETH CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER BRINGS VACCINE DEVELOPMENT AND COMMERCIALIZATION EXPERTISE
MEDFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 28, 2010 - Ancora Pharmaceuticals Inc. is proud to announce that Dr. George Siber has joined its scientific advisory board. Dr. Siber brings tremendous experience in vaccine development and commercialization and will assist Ancora in propelling its vaccine candidates toward the clinic.
Dr. Siber formerly served as the executive vice president and chief scientific officer of Wyeth Vaccines Research. During his tenure at Wyeth, Dr. Siber oversaw the development and approval of several leading pediatric vaccines, including Prevnar®, the first pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and the world's top selling vaccine. Other vaccines developed under Dr. Siber's tenure include Meningitec®, a meningococcal vaccine for bacterial meningitis and FluMist, a live attenuated nasal vaccine for influenza.
"Dr. Siber has played a leading role in developing several groundbreaking vaccines that are widely used," said Karl White, chairman of Ancora's board of directors. "We are fortunate to have his knowledge and experience to help accelerate the development of Ancora's innovative vaccine programs."
"I have devoted my life and work toward improving children's health through the development of vaccines and therapeutics that prevent some of the most dangerous infectious diseases that threaten young people," said Siber. "I look forward to working with Ancora, and exploring the true potential of synthetic carbohydrate based vaccines to further this goal."
Prior to his work at Wyeth Vaccines Research, Dr. Siber was associate professor of medicine at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and former director of the Massachusetts Biological Laboratories. While presiding at Massachusetts Biological Laboratories, his research discoveries led to Respigam, the first generation antibody against Respiratory Syncytial Virus, an extremely common virus that can prove life threatening for infants.
Dr. Siber has served on several US government and international advisory committees including the World Health Organization, the Pan American Health Organization, the Institute of Medicine and the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. He has authored more than 175 scientific articles and holds 4 patents. He is currently the executive chairman of the board of directors of Genocea Biosciences and is a member of the board of directors of Selecta Biosciences and Crucell.
Ancora Pharmaceuticals is a private biopharmaceutical company based in Medford, Massachusetts. Using its patented, world-leading carbohydrate synthesis technology, Ancora is developing several promising synthetic carbohydrate-based vaccines. Ancora's carbohydrate synthesis platform enables the rapid production of synthetic carbohydrates to support vaccine discovery and optimization, clinical trials and product commercialization.
Carbohydrate-based therapeutics represent an untapped opportunity within the pharmaceutical industry, which has been constrained by material access. Ancora's synthetic carbohydrate discovery platform will enable the expansion of a unique chemical domain in therapeutic development. The initial focus is on vaccines against some of today's worst infectious diseases including Staphylococcus aureus and malaria.
Contact: Ancora Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Steve Crawford, 781-643-9410