TIDMMEDG TIDMMEDU
RNS Number : 0690W
Medgenics Inc
24 January 2012
Press Release 24 January 2012
Medgenics, Inc.
("Medgenics" or the "Company")
Medgenics Adds Two Key Opinion Leaders to Strategic Advisory
Board
Renowned Liver and Kidney Disease Experts Significantly Enhance
Advisory in Two Leading Indications for Company's Protein
Production Technology
Medgenics, Inc. (NYSE Amex: MDGN and AIM: MEDU, MEDG), the
developer of a novel technology for the sustained production and
delivery of therapeutic proteins in patients using their own
tissue, today announced the addition of Nezam H. Afdhal, M.D.,
Chief of Hepatology, Director of Liver Center, Beth Israel
Deaconess Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Medicine,
Harvard School of Medicine; and Steven Fishbane, M.D., a
distinguished nephrologist and widely published author in the field
of renal anemia, to the Company's Strategic Advisory Board
("SAB").
"It is a privilege and pleasure to have both Dr. Afdhal and Dr.
Fishbane join our SAB as each is a distinguished clinician in his
respective field," stated Andrew L. Pearlman, Ph.D., President and
Chief Executive Officer of Medgenics. "Medgenics is certain to
benefit from such accomplished and notable additions to our SAB as
their expert advice and years of experience should contribute
greatly to the acceleration of our clinical efforts in the two
medical specialties we have chosen as the lead indications for our
Biopump(TM) protein therapy technology."
"Dr. Afdhal's and Dr. Fishbane's input will be particularly
valuable as we advance our clinical development programs for
INFRADURE, our product candidate for the sustained production and
delivery of interferon-alpha to treat hepatitis, and EPODURE, our
most advanced product candidate for the sustained production and
delivery of erythropoietin ("EPO") to treat anemia," added Dr.
Pearlman.
Dr. Afdhal's clinical expertise focuses on the management of the
complications of liver disease, including cirrhosis and portal
hypertension. He is the director of a clinical trials group
focusing on novel treatments of hepatitis B and C. Additional
research interests include basic and translational research in
gallstone disease, liver cancer, and liver fibrosis.
Dr. Afdhal is on the advisory board of the American Liver
Foundation and the Massachusetts State Advisory Board for HCV. He
has served on the editorial board and as a reviewer for multiple
journals. He has published more than 180 papers in journals such as
Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Gut, and Journal of Hepatology, as
well as 30 book chapters and two books. He has spoken nationally
and internationally on chronic liver disease and received many
awards, including the American Liver Foundation Award for
Excellence and the Mitchell Lectureship of the Royal College of
Physicians. He is a member of the American Gastroenterological
Association, the American Association for the Study of Liver
Diseases, and the European Association for the Study of the
Liver.
Dr. Afdhal received his MD degree from the Royal College of
Surgeons in Ireland and did fellowship training at University
College Dublin and at Boston University School of Medicine.
Discussing his appointment to the Medgenics SAB, Dr. Afdhal
said, "I am delighted to join the Medgenics SAB. INFRADURE holds
significant promise as a long-acting protein production technology
that could replace months of serial injections of interferon-alpha
for the treatment of various forms of hepatitis. The severe adverse
side effects of interferon injections pose a significant barrier to
patient compliance and limit our ability to successfully treat and
eradicate this life-threatening and infectious disease that affects
millions of patients worldwide. INFRADURE could potentially provide
the benefits of interferon therapy without problems of patient
compliance and without the severe side effects. I look forward to
working with the Medgenics team on INFRADURE and other Biopump
products."
Dr. Fishbane is a member of the National Kidney Foundation's
Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (NKF-KDOQI), and the
Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) program, both of
which develop guidelines for the treatment of anemia associated
with chronic kidney disease. He serves on the Medical Advisory
Board of the National Kidney Foundation Serving Greater New York.
Renowned for his studies on end-stage renal disease and renal
anemia, Dr. Fishbane is on the Editorial Board for the Journal of
the American Society of Nephrology and Advances in Renal
Replacement and is a reviewer for several journals, including the
New England Journal of Medicine.
Dr. Fishbane received MD from Albert Einstein College of
Medicine, completed his Internship at Beth Israel Hospital, his
Residency in Internal Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center, and
his Fellowship in Nephrology at the Albert Einstein College of
Medicine, all in New York City.
Dr. Fishbane commented on joining Medgenics SAB, "Recent data
presented at the American Society of Nephrology demonstrating that
a single EPODURE administration can raise and maintain hemoglobin
levels for up to 30 months or more without injections of
erythropoietic stimulating agents ("ESA"), is potentially
groundbreaking. The fact that the EPODURE treatment also maintained
EPO serum levels within normal physiological range, versus the
10-100 fold excessive EPO levels which typically accompany each
injection of ESA, indicates the potentially greater safety
inherently offered by this steady approach to anemia treatment. I
look forward to working with the Medgenics team to advance this
promising technology to market as it could represent a paradigm
shift in the way we treat anemic patients."
About Medgenics
Medgenics is developing and commercializing Biopump(TM), a
proprietary tissue-based platform technology for the sustained
production and delivery of therapeutic proteins using the patient's
own skin biopsy for the treatment of a range of chronic diseases
including anemia, hepatitis C and hemophilia. Medgenics believes
this approach has multiple benefits compared with current
treatments, which include regular and costly injections of
therapeutic proteins.
Medgenics has three long-acting protein therapy products in
development based on this technology:
-- EPODURE (now completing a Phase I/II dose-ranging trial) to
produce and deliver erythropoietin for many months from a single
administration, has demonstrated elevation and stabilization of
hemoglobin levels in anemic patients for six to more than 36
months;
-- INFRADURE (planning to commence a Phase I/II trial in Israel
in 1H12 in hepatitis C) to produce a sustained therapeutic dose of
interferon-alpha for use in the treatment of hepatitis;
-- HEMODURE is a sustained Factor VIII therapy for the
prophylactic treatment of hemophilia, now in development.
Medgenics intends to develop its innovative products and bring
them to market via strategic partnerships with major pharmaceutical
and/or medical device companies.
In addition to treatments for anemia, hepatitis and hemophilia,
Medgenics plans to develop and/or out-license a pipeline of future
Biopump(TM) products targeting the large and rapidly growing global
protein therapy market, which is forecast to reach $132 billion in
2013. Other potential applications for Biopumps(TM) include
multiple sclerosis, arthritis, pediatric growth hormone deficiency,
obesity and diabetes.
Forward-looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and as that term is defined
in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which
include all statements other than statements of historical fact,
including (without limitation) those regarding the Company's
financial position, its development and business strategy, its
product candidates and the plans and objectives of management for
future operations. The Company intends that such forward-looking
statements be subject to the safe harbors created by such laws.
Forward-looking statements are sometimes identified by their use of
the terms and phrases such as "estimate," "project," "intend, "
"forecast," "anticipate," "plan," "planning, "expect," "believe,"
"will," "will likely," "should," "could," "would," "may" or the
negative of such terms and other comparable terminology. All such
forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and
are subject to risks and uncertainties. Should any of these risks
or uncertainties materialize, or should any of the Company's
assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ materially
from those included within these forward-looking statements.
Accordingly, no undue reliance should be placed on these
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made.
The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to
disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking
statements contained herein to reflect any change in the Company's
expectations with regard thereto or any change in events,
conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based.
As a result of these factors, the events described in the
forward-looking statements contained in this release may not
occur.
For further information, contact:
Medgenics, Inc. Phone: +972 4 902 8900
Dr. Andrew L. Pearlman
Andrew.pearlman@medgenics.com
LHA Phone: 212-838-3777
Anne Marie Fields
afields@lhai.com
Abchurch Communications Phone: +44 207 398 7719
Adam Michael
Joanne Shears
Jamie Hooper
jamie.hooper@abchurch-group.com
Religare Capital Markets (NOMAD) Phone: +44 207 444 0800
Emily Staples
SVS Securities plc (Joint Broker) Phone: +44 207 638 5600
Alex Mattey
Ian Callaway
Nomura Code Securities (Joint Broker) Phone: +44 207 776 1219
Jonathan Senior
- Ends -
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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