SAN MATEO, Calif., Feb. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing anti-inflammatory drugs for chronic and acute diseases, announced today the appointment of Dr. David Waters, Dr. Robert Rosenson and Dr. Stephen Nicholls to its Cardiovascular Clinical Advisory Board. “We are both privileged and excited to be able to bring together some of the most distinguished and highly regarded experts in the fields of inflammation and cardiovascular medicine,” stated Dr. Colin Hislop, Senior VP Clinical Development. “Each member of our advisory board has a wealth of experience that we can draw on. This will enhance our strategic decision making as we progress the clinical development of the lead compound A-002 in the PLASMA study.” PLASMA -- (Phospholipase Levels And Serological Markers of Atherosclerosis) is a multi-center phase 2 clinical trial that will examine the effect of A-002 on secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) levels and other well established markers of inflammation and cardiovascular risk in patients with stable coronary artery disease. PLASMA is expected to complete enrollment by the fourth quarter of 2007. For details please visit www.plasmatrial.com.
Clinical Advisory Board
David D. Waters, MD, now retired, was Chief of Cardiology at San Francisco General Hospital and the Maurice Eliaser Jr. Distinguished Professor of Medicine at University of California, San Francisco. He completed his medical training at the University of Western Ontario and Internal Medicine training at McGill University. After completing his cardiology fellowship training at Emory University, Dr. Waters was appointed as a Canadian Heart Foundation Research Fellow at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Dr. Waters has published over 300 manuscripts, mainly related to coronary artery disease, and has written more than 60 book chapters. He is a member of the editorial boards of several major cardiology journals and was an associate editor of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Dr. Waters’ early research involved vasospastic angina, risk stratification in acute coronary syndromes and trials of antiplatelet and antithrombotic therapy for unstable angina. More recently he has directed clinical trials assessing the effect of calcium channel blockers, statins, antioxidant vitamins and hormone replacement upon the progression of coronary disease, as well as other trials of cholesterol-lowering therapies.
Robert S. Rosenson, MD, FACP, FACC, FAHA, FCCP (inactive) is a Professor of Medicine and Director of Lipoprotein Disorders and Clinical Atherosclerosis Research/Cardiovascular Diseases at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. His clinical research has investigated the effects of lipid-lowering therapies, hypoglycemic therapies and antihypertensive agents on inflammation and thrombogenesis as well as the effects of hypolipidemic and antihypertensive agents on blood viscosity and fibrinogen. Previously, he was Professor of Cardiology at Northwestern University Medical School, where he also served as Director of the Preventive Cardiology Center and Director of the Lipoprotein and Hemorheology Research Facility. After receiving his medical degree from Tulane University, Dr. Rosenson completed his internship and residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, where he also held a Clinical Fellowship in Medicine. Following that, Dr. Rosenson completed his fellowship in cardiology at the University of Chicago. He has published over 70 peer-reviewed scientific papers and nearly 70 book chapters in the field. He also serves as an editor of a number of journals including Atherosclerosis.
Stephen J. Nicholls, MBBS, PhD, FRACP, FACC is a Director, Intravascular Ultrasound Core Laboratory and Associate Director, Cardiovascular Coordinating Center at Cleveland Clinic. He received his medical degree at the University of Adelaide and completed his internship and residency at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in Adelaide, SA, Australia. Dr. Nicholls is a member of several scientific and professional organizations. He is also an ad hoc manuscript reviewer for several major cardiology journals including Circulation. Dr. Nicholls has published over 40 peer-reviewed scientific papers and 71 abstracts.
About Anthera Pharmaceuticals
Anthera Pharmaceuticals is a privately-held pharmaceutical development company committed to world-class development and commercialization of promising clinical products to address the unmet medical needs of patients with life-threatening chronic and acute inflammatory diseases. In 2006, Anthera acquired worldwide rights (except Japan) to a series of clinical and pre-clinical compounds that inhibit the enzymatic activity of members of the phospholipase (PLA2) family -- a group of enzymes responsible for the release of arachidonic acid and subsequent production of leukotrienes‚ prostacyclins and other mediators of inflammation. These highly potent compounds inhibit novel‚ upstream steps in the inflammation cascade and have the potential to address a variety of diseases including: acute chest syndrome, acute lung injury, acute respiratory distress syndrome, atherosclerosis, acute coronary syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and psoriasis. In order to efficiently commercialize this platform, Anthera has brought together a proven management team with extensive experience in licensing, clinical research, development, and commercialization of anti-inflammatory products. For more information please visit www.anthera.com.
Contact: Press Relations 510-277-1208 pr@anthera.com
Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
CONTACT: Press Relations, +1-510-277-1208, or pr@anthera.com
Web site: http://www.anthera.com//
