ANN ARBOR, Mich., Feb. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- With deep regret, Adeona Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Amex: AEN), announced today the passing of its Senior Vice President of Research & Development, David A. Newsome, M.D. Dr. Newsome invented and developed ZincMonoCysteine and was the first person to pioneer and demonstrate the benefits of oral high dose zinc therapy in age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in older Americans. Oral high dose zinc containing nutritional products now represent the standard of care for age-related macular degeneration which affects over 10 million Americans.
During his career, Dr. Newsome spent over a decade in clinical and laboratory research at the National Eye Institute, becoming the Head of the Retinal Disease Section. As Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute, Dr. Newsome combined teaching and clinical work with his laboratory research. Dr. Newsome continued his passion of teaching, patient care, clinical and laboratory research as a full tenured Professor at Louisiana State University Medical School, New Orleans. After teaching there, Dr. Newsome formed his own surgical and medical retina disease private practice, and continued to perform clinical and laboratory research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and private foundation grants. After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Dr. Newsome worked as a surgical ophthalmologist until joining the management team at Adeona in 2006. He earned an M.D. from Columbia University and a B.A. from Duke University, and completed an ophthalmology residency and a fellowship in retinal diseases and surgery at Harvard University. He also completed a retinal fellowship at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors and all of his colleagues at Adeona, I would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to David’s family,” stated James S. Kuo, M.D., M.B.A., Adeona’s Chairman and CEO. “David was a dear friend and cherished colleague. He will be remembered for his life’s work to develop zinc-based therapies for patients. David will be greatly missed.”
About Adeona Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Adeona is a pharmaceutical company developing innovative medicines for the treatment of serious central nervous system diseases. The Company’s strategy is to license product candidates that have demonstrated a certain level of clinical efficacy and develop them to a stage that results in a significant commercial collaboration. Currently, Adeona is developing the following product candidates: a prescription medical food for Alzheimer’s disease, and drugs for multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, age-related macular degeneration and rheumatoid arthritis. For more information, please visit Adeona’s website at www.adeonapharma.com.
This release includes forward-looking statements on Adeona’s current expectations and projections about future events. In some cases forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “may,” “should,” “potential,” “continue,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” and similar expressions. These statements are based upon current beliefs, expectations and assumptions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and include statements regarding the timing and results of our clinical studies and our ability to successfully develop products with superior benefits. The forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth or implied by any forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in Adeona’s forward-looking statements include, among others, the availability of financial and other resources and the allocation of resources among different potential uses, a failure of our clinical trials to be completed on time or to achieve desired results, a failure of the new branding to achieve desired results, a failure of our clinical reference laboratory to continue to grow and achieve revenue or a failure by us or our strategic partners to successfully commercialize products and other factors described in Adeona’s report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009 and any other filings with the SEC. The information in this release is provided only as of the date of this release, and Adeona undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release on account of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.
SOURCE Adeona Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
