PolyMedix Expands Research Science Advisory Board
RADNOR, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 23, 2010 - PolyMedix, Inc. (OTC BB: PYMX), an emerging biotechnology company focused on developing new therapeutic drugs to treat life-threatening infectious diseases and acute cardiovascular disorders, has expanded its advisory relationships through the development of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) focused on PolyMedix's basic scientific research. The SAB is comprised of world-renown scientists who will actively collaborate with PolyMedix to advance its preclinical portfolio of therapeutic drug candidates and PolyCideTM for biomaterials applications.
"We are honored to have the opportunity to work with such distinguished and accomplished scientific leaders," commented Dr. Richard Scott, Vice President of Research at PolyMedix. "Our advisors and scientific founders have been instrumental in guiding our research strategies and helping us develop our novel drug discovery programs. We look forward to their wisdom as we continue to discover innovative therapeutic drugs for important life-threatening infectious diseases and other disorders, particularly as we strive to develop next generations of our defensin-mimetic antibiotics for applications such as Gram-negative food-borne and fungal infections."
Members of the Scientific Advisory Board include:
William F. DeGrado, Ph.D.: Professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics in the School of Medicine, and an adjunct member of the Chemistry Department, at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. DeGrado is one of the founders of PolyMedix's computational drug design technology that uses protein targets with well-understood physical structures and biological activity to design small molecule compounds that mimic or regulate the activity of these targets. He is a member of the National Academy of Science, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. DeGrado's research interests include: de novo protein and peptide design; peptide mimetics; structure, stability, and function of membrane proteins, including integrins and viral ion channels; design of biomimetic polymers; bioinorganic chemistry; and computational approaches to small molecule and protein design. He has over 250 publications and a multitude of patents. Dr. DeGrado received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Chicago.
Gregory N. Tew, Ph.D.: Professor, Polymer Sciences and Engineering, at the University of Massachusetts. Dr. Tew is one of the original scientific founders of PolyMedix's technology. His research focuses on a number of topics including the design of simple, small synthetic oligomers that capture the biological activity of proteins, such as host defense peptides. He has successfully designed a number of molecular scaffolds that show potent broad spectrum antimicrobial activity and at the same time have minimal toxicity against mammalian cells. Dr. Tew is a founding member of the American Chemical Society Polymer Division, and a Fellow and member of the Defense Science Study Group. He has over 100 peer-reviewed publications and has received several prestigious scientific awards including the PECASE, which is one of the highest honors given by the U.S. federal government for young scientists. Dr. Tew received his Ph.D. in materials science from the University of Illinois.
Gill Diamond, Ph.D.: Associate Professor in the Department of Oral Biology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Dr. Diamond's expertise focuses on the role of antimicrobial peptides in host defense of the lung and the oral cavity, focusing on the activity of beta-defensins and cathelicidins in defense against bacterial infections. He has also been examining the potential applications of antimicrobial peptide mimetics for infections in the oral cavity. Dr. Diamond received his Ph.D. in genetics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Henry S. Heine, Ph.D.: Senior Scientist at Ordway Research Institute in New York. Dr. Heine is currently a member of the American Society of Microbiology and voting member of the CLSI Subcommittee on Veterinary Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing. He is a former member of the White House Task force for WMD Medical Countermeasures (BARDA-Bio WG) and FDA-CDER Anti-Infective Drugs Advisory Committee. His research focuses on the development and testing of both in vitro and in vivo animal model systems for evaluation of therapeutics against many of the CDC select agent class A and B bacterial pathogens. In addition, Dr. Heine has designed and evaluated non-human primate trials and provided advice and support for meeting the FDA's "animal rule" as the regulatory path to indication approval. Dr. Heine received his Ph.D. in microbiology from the Uniform Services University Health Sciences in Maryland.
William J. Weiss, M.S.: Director of Pre-Clinical Services at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. Mr. Weiss' expertise encompasses the development and evaluation of animal models of infectious disease, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic analysis, evaluation of antibacterial agents, and the discovery and development of new antimicrobial, antiviral and antifungal agents. He has over 30 years of industry experience which includes Director of Drug Evaluation at Cumbre Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Group Leader in Infectious Disease Discovery Research at Wyeth Research, Lederle Laboratories and Schering-Plough. He has worked on numerous antibacterial programs including the development of the marketed products, Suprax, Zosyn and Tygacil. Mr. Weiss received his M.S. in microbiology from Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey.
About PolyMedix, Inc.
PolyMedix is a publicly traded biotechnology company focused on the development of novel drugs for the treatment of serious infectious diseases and acute cardiovascular disorders. PolyMedix uses a rational drug design approach to create non-peptide, small-molecule drug candidates. PolyMedix's lead antibiotic compound, PMX-30063, is currently in Phase 2 clinical trials. PMX-30063 is a small-molecule that mimics the mechanism of action of human host defense proteins, a mechanism that is distinct from currently approved antibiotic drugs and is intended to make bacterial resistance unlikely to develop. PolyMedix plans to develop this compound for serious systemic Staphylococcal infections, including methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). PolyMedix's lead heptagonist compound, PMX-60056, has completed Phase 1 testing and is being developed to reverse the anticoagulant activity of both heparin and low molecular weight heparins (LMWH). PolyMedix believes that PMX-60056 could potentially be a safer and easier to use anticoagulant reversing agent, with broader activity, than the currently approved therapy for reversing heparin and LMWH. In addition to its small molecule therapeutics, PolyMedix has polymeric formulations with the same mechanism of action as PMX-30063, PolyCidesTM. PolyCides are intended for use in antimicrobial biomaterials applications as additives to paints, plastics, and textiles to create self-sterilizing products and surfaces. For more information, please visit our website at www.polymedix.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause PolyMedix's actual results and experience to differ materially from anticipated results and expectations expressed in these forward looking statements. PolyMedix has in some cases identified forward-looking statements by using words such as "anticipates," "believes," "hopes," "estimates," "looks," "expects," "plans," "intends," "goal," "potential," "may," "suggest," and similar expressions. Among other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements are PolyMedix's need for, and the availability of, substantial capital in the future to fund its operations and research and development, and the fact that PolyMedix's compounds may not successfully complete pre-clinical or clinical testing, or be granted regulatory approval to be sold and marketed in the United States or elsewhere. A more complete description of these risk factors is included in PolyMedix's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. PolyMedix undertakes no obligation to release publicly the results of any revisions to any such forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by applicable law or regulation.
Contact: PolyMedix, Inc.
Lisa Caperelli, 484-598-2406
Director, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
[email protected]