LEXINGTON, Mass., March 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Pulmatrix,
Inc. (NASDAQ: PULM), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company
developing innovative inhaled therapies to address serious
pulmonary diseases, today announced that it has added two experts
in the fields of allergic fungal disease, cystic fibrosis and
asthma to its Scientific Advisory Board.
The two experts are:
- Richard B. Moss, MD, former chief of the Pediatric Pulmonary
and Allergy Divisions and former Director of the Cystic Fibrosis
Center at Stanford University, and
- David Denning, MD, Professor of Infectious Diseases in Global
Health at the University of Manchester (UK) and Coordinator of the
International Genome Sequencing project for Aspergillus
fumigatus, a common cause of lung infections.
"With our two new Scientific Advisory Board members, we've added
two leading experts in fungal infections who both have significant
experience developing therapeutic agents for these
infections. Drs. Moss and Denning will be able to provide
real time guidance on patients and clinical trial designs, allowing
us to push one of our top drug candidates, PUR1900, through
clinical development," said Pulmatrix's Chief Executive Officer,
Robert W. Clarke, Ph.D.
"We believe Drs. Moss and Denning will be enormously helpful in
accelerating the development of PUR1900," said Richard Boucher, MD,
a current Scientific Advisory Board Member and Professor of
Medicine and Director of the Cystic Fibrosis and Pulmonary Diseases
Research and Treatment Center at the University of North Carolina (Marisco Lung
Institute). "PUR1900 would be the first treatment that delivers an
anti-fungal drug directly to the lungs, and should offer major
benefits to cystic fibrosis patients and others with fungal lung
infections."
Currently, many CF and asthma patients experience allergic
reactions when their lungs become infected with Aspergillus
fungus, which Dr. Denning has studied extensively and has founded a
comprehensive online resource to track developments in the field.
Doctors now try to treat those infections with an oral drug,
itraconazole. But in more than half the patients, absorption from
the gut is so low that not enough of the antifungal drug gets to
the lungs through the bloodstream to fight the fungus. Systemic
side effects are also a major problem.
"Pulmatrix is seeking to solve this problem by combining
itraconazole with its dry powder iSPERSE technology," explained Dr.
Denning. "That makes it possible for patients to easily inhale the
drug into their lungs where it's needed—and to offer new hope to
patients now suffering from serious Aspergillus infections.
There are no inhaled antifungals on the market, and they are sorely
needed. That's why so I'm excited about joining Pulmatrix's
Scientific Advisory Board to help bring this important drug to the
market."
Pulmatrix already has received both orphan drug status and a
"Qualified Infectious Disease Product" (QIDP) designation for
PUR1900 from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Now, the
company is moving ahead with non-clinical safety testing and a
Phase I trial of PUR1900 that we expect will lead to future
clinical trials in patients with cystic fibrosis and severe asthma.
"Based on my own experience with cystic fibrosis patients and
severe asthmatics who suffer from allergic reactions to fungal
infections, Pulmatrix's drug could make a real difference in
people's lives," said Dr. Moss.
In addition to his research at the University of Manchester and his physician's practice at
Manchester's University Hospitals,
Dr. Denning has consulted with many pharmaceutical companies on
antifungal drug discovery, including Merck, Pfizer, and Schering
Plough. He has also founded two companies: F2G Ltd, an antifungal
drug discovery company that spun out from Manchester University; and Myconostica, which
develops molecular diagnostics for fungal disease.
Dr. Moss has consulted for the National Institutes of Health,
the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and a number of biopharmaceutical
companies. At Stanford, his research
group studied everything from the treatment of chronic airway
diseases to allergic fungal lung disease, and he has published
extensively in the areas of allergic fungal disease and cystic
fibrosis.
About
Pulmatrix
Pulmatrix is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing
innovative inhaled therapies to address serious pulmonary disease
using its patented iSPERSE™ technology. The Company's proprietary
product pipeline is focused on advancing treatments for lung
diseases, including opportunities in major
pulmonary diseases through collaborations, like PUR0200, a branded
generic in clinical development for chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease (COPD) and PUR1900, an inhaled antifungal that could
benefit severe asthmatics and patients with rare disease like
cystic fibrosis. Pulmatrix's product candidates are based on
iSPERSE™, its proprietary dry powder delivery platform, which seeks
to improve therapeutic delivery to the lungs by maximizing local
concentrations and reducing systemic side effects to improve
patient outcomes.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this
press release that are forward-looking and not statements of
historical fact are forward-looking statements within the meaning
of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include, but
are not limited to, statements concerning the amount and use of
proceeds the Company expects to receive from the sale of the shares
of common stock in the registered direct offering, the closing of
the transaction described in this press release, which is subject
to customary conditions, and other statements that are not
statements of historical fact, and may be identified by words such
as "anticipates," "assumes," "believes," "can," "could,"
"estimates," "expects," "forecasts," "guides," "intends," "is
confident that", "may," "plans," "seeks," "projects," "targets,"
and "would," and their opposites and similar expressions are
intended to identify forward-looking statements. The Company
cautions that such statements involve risks and uncertainties that
may materially affect the Company's results of operations. Such
forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of management
as well as assumptions made by and information currently available
to management. Actual results could differ materially from those
contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of
certain factors, including, but not limited to, market and other
conditions, the satisfaction of customary closing conditions
related to the registered direct offering of common stock, the
ability to establish that potential products are efficacious or
safe in preclinical or clinical trials; the ability to establish or
maintain collaborations on the development of therapeutic
candidates; the ability to obtain appropriate or necessary
governmental approvals to market potential products; the ability to
obtain future funding for developmental products and working
capital and to obtain such funding on commercially reasonable
terms; the Company's ability to manufacture product candidates on a
commercial scale or in collaborations with third parties; changes
in the size and nature of competitors; the ability to retain key
executives and scientists; and the ability to secure and enforce
legal rights related to the Company's products, including patent
protection. A discussion of these and other factors, including
risks and uncertainties with respect to the Company, is set forth
in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including its annual report on Form 10-K filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission on March
10, 2017, as may be supplemented or amended by the Company's
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. The Company disclaims any intention
or obligation to revise any forward-looking statements, whether as
a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as
required by law.
Investor
Contact
Robert Clarke,
CEO
(781)
357-2333
rclarke@pulmatrix.com
William Duke, CFO
(781) 357-2333
wduke@pulmatrix.com
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SOURCE Pulmatrix, Inc.