SAN DIEGO, Nov. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cardium Therapeutics, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aries Ventures Inc. , today announced the addition of Robert L. Engler, M.D. as Chief Medical Advisor.
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Dr. Engler was co-founder of Collateral Therapeutics and served as a Director from 1995 to 2000 and as Vice President -- Medical Director from 1995 through 1998. Currently, Dr. Engler is Professor of Medicine Emeritus at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). He was Professor of Medicine at UCSD, Associate Chief of Staff for Research and Development at the Veterans' Affairs Medical Center, and a faculty member of the Institute for Biomedical Engineering at UCSD. He served as director of Coronary Care at the VA Hospital and was a clinical cardiologist until 2001 when he retired from UCSD and the VA Hospital to continue his work in the development of innovative agents for cardiovascular therapy. From 1985 to 1997, Dr. Engler was a Scientific Advisor to Gensia. Dr. Engler is a director of Halozyme Therapeutics, a publicly-traded biotechnology company. He received a B.A. in Physics from the University of North Carolina and his medical degree from Georgetown University.
Christopher J. Reinhard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cardium Therapeutics stated, "We are pleased to welcome Bob to Cardium Therapeutics. During the past decade Bob and I worked together at Collateral Therapeutics on the discovery, pre-clinical research and clinical development of Generx. All of us at Cardium look forward to working together with Bob as we seek to accelerate the Generx development program and to broaden and extend our pipeline of therapeutic candidates."
About the Company
Cardium Therapeutics, Inc. (the Company), headquartered in San Diego, is primarily focused on interventional cardiology and the development and commercialization of non-surgical cardiovascular gene therapeutics. The Company's lead product candidate, Generx(TM), is a non-surgical angiogenic therapy designed to be a one-time treatment for patients with recurrent angina due to coronary artery disease. Generx and the related cardiovascular technology platform were pioneered by Collateral Therapeutics, a San Diego-based biotechnology company co-founded by the Company's CEO Christopher Reinhard. In 1996, Schering AG Germany and Collateral Therapeutics entered into a strategic partnership to develop angiogenic DNA-based therapeutics, including Generx. Based on the advancing clinical progress of Generx, Schering AG acquired Collateral Therapeutics in 2002. In October 2005, the Company announced the acquisition of a portfolio of cardiovascular growth factor therapeutics from Schering AG Germany, including the later-stage product candidate, Generx, and simultaneously merged with a specially formed subsidiary of Aries Ventures Inc. and completed a $30 million financing. For more information about the Company and its product candidates, please visit www.cardiumthx.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Except for statements of historical fact, the matters discussed in this press release are forward looking and reflect numerous assumptions and involve a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control and may cause actual results to differ materially from stated expectations. For example, there can be no assurance that critical personnel can be retained, that our efforts to accelerate the commercial development of our lead product or to broaden and extend our pipeline of therapeutic candidates will be successful, that required clinical trials will be successful, that necessary regulatory approvals will be obtained, that the proposed treatments will prove to be safe or effective, or that our efforts to grow the Company will be successful. Actual results may also differ substantially from those described in or contemplated by this press release due to risks and uncertainties that exist in our operations and business environment, including, without limitation, our limited experience in the development of DNA-based cardiovascular therapeutics, our dependence upon proprietary technology, our history of operating losses and accumulated deficits, our reliance on collaborative relationships and critical personnel, and current and future competition, as well as other risks described from time to time in filings made by Aries Ventures Inc. with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to release publicly the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date hereof.
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Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20051018/CARDIUMLOGOPRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.comCardium Therapeutics, Inc; Aries Ventures Inc.CONTACT: Bonnie Ortega, Director, Investor Relations of CardiumTherapeutics, Inc, +1-858-436-1018, InvestorRelations@cardiumthx.com
Web site: http://www.cardiumthx.com//
