TARRYTOWN, N.Y., March 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Emisphere Technologies, Inc. announced today the formation of a Scientific Advisory Board (“SAB”) to provide guidance for the Company’s clinical development program for its oral insulin product. The SAB, which is chaired by Daniel J. Drucker, M.D., FRCPC, Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto and Director, Banting and Best Diabetes Centre, University of Toronto, is comprised of six independent scientific experts in several fields related to diabetes research.
“Emisphere looks forward to working with the SAB’s renowned experts in the fields of diabetes, endocrinology, and metabolism on the best path forward for developing our oral insulin product. We are honored to be working with such distinguished scientists in order to understand the potential of Emisphere’s eligen(R) drug delivery technology with regard to the creation of a safe and effective oral insulin product,” stated Lewis H. Bender, President and CEO of Emisphere Technologies, Inc. “We believe that the formation of the SAB is an important step to advancing our oral insulin program further in the clinic this year.”
“I am pleased to be heading this Board to help advise Emisphere on the development of a potential new treatment option for diabetic patients,” said Dr. Daniel J. Drucker, Chairman of Emisphere’s SAB. “Diabetes is a growing, worldwide health problem and an effective oral insulin therapy would be a welcomed addition to the current treatment regimen.”
The SAB is comprised of the following members:
Daniel J. Drucker, M.D., FRCPC, is a Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism at the University of Toronto, Canada. Dr. Drucker is also the Director of the Banting and Best Diabetes Center at the University of Toronto. He serves on the editorial boards of Molecular Endocrinology and Nature Clinical Practice Endocrinology and Metabolism, is an editor for Endocrinology, and has been elected to membership in the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. Additionally, he has received investigator awards from the Canadian Diabetes Association, the International Society for Regulatory Peptides, the Endocrine Society, and the Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation.
Jay S. Skyler, M.D., MACP, is currently a Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics, & Psychology, in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, & Metabolism, Department of Medicine, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida. He served as Director of that Division from 2000 to 2004. At the University of Miami, he is Associate Director for Academic Programs in the Diabetes Research Institute. He is Chairman of the NIH (NIDDK)-sponsored Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet, an international network conducting clinical trials to prevent type 1 diabetes or interdict the type 1 diabetes disease process. He is a past President of the American Diabetes Association, the International Diabetes Immunotherapy Group, and the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation, and was a Vice-President of the International Diabetes Federation. He served as a member of the Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism Subspecialty Examining Board of the American Board of Internal Medicine, as Chairman of the Council of Subspecialty Societies of the American College of Physicians (ACP) and a member of the ACP Board of Regents. He was founding Editor-in-Chief of Diabetes Care, and currently is Scientific Editor of International Diabetes Monitor and Associate Editor of Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics.
Bernard Zinman, M.D., CM, FRCPC, FACP, is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, Canada and Senior Scientist at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Zinman is Director of the Leadership Sinai Center for Diabetes and holds the Sam and Judy Pencer Family Chair in Diabetes Research at Mount Sinai Hospital and the University of Toronto. He was Director of the Banting and Best Diabetes Centre (1993-2000) and is now involved with diabetes care and research at both national and international levels. He is the Principal Investigator of the University of Toronto Centre for the DCCT/EDIC (Diabetes Control and Complications Trial/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications) study.
Julio Rosenstock, M.D., is the director of the Dallas Diabetes and Endocrine Center at Medical City, an endocrine practice and clinical research facility. He is also a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. He is board-certified in internal medicine, endocrinology and metabolism, member of numerous professional societies and serves as the representative of The Endocrine Society to NDEP (National Diabetes Education Program sponsored by NIH and CDC). His clinical and research activities have focused on intensive diabetes management strategies exploring novel therapies to improve glycemic control to prevent and retard diabetic complications. Dr Rosenstock’s main interest has been early insulin intervention with combination strategies to reach glycemic targets in type 2 diabetes. He serves on the editorial board of Practical Diabetology and Cardiovascular Diabetology and is an active reviewer for several journals.
Steven E. Kahn, MB, ChB, is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition at the University of Washington. Dr. Kahn is an editor for the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism and a member of the editorial board of Diabetes. He has been a member of the board of directors of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and has served as Chair of the Scientific and Medical Meetings Oversight Committee of the ADA. He is also a member of The Endocrine Society and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. His current research interests include, but are not limited to, the assessment of islet function and insulin action in states of normal and abnormal carbohydrate metabolism and the role of fat distribution on metabolic variables associated with diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Robert A. Gelfand, M.D. is Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine and founding member of RAG Consulting, LLC. With over 20 years’ experience in clinical investigation, including 11 years at Pfizer, Inc, Dr. Gelfand serves as an independent consultant in clinical drug development, specializing in diabetes and metabolic disease. A Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine, Subspecialty of Endocrinology and Metabolism, and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, Dr. Gelfand sees patients with diabetes and endocrine disorders in clinical practice in Connecticut.
Conference Call Information
Emisphere will host a conference call to discuss the oral insulin development program and formation of the scientific advisory board today, beginning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Emisphere’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Lewis H. Bender, and Dr. Daniel J. Drucker will lead the discussion on this morning’s call.
A replay of the teleconference will be accessible approximately two hours following the end of the call and will be archived through March 27, 2007.
The live conference call dial-in number is: 1-877-704-5379 (U.S./Canada) or 1-913-312-1293 (International). To access a replay of the call: 1-888-203-1112 (U.S./Canada) or 1-719-457-0820 (International) Conference replay PIN number is: 4927562
Emisphere will simultaneously webcast this teleconference. To access the live broadcast in listen-only mode or the subsequently archived recording, please go to the Investor Relations portion of the Company’s website at: http://www.emisphere.com/ir.asp
Please visit the site at least five minutes prior to start time for instructions.
About Emisphere Technologies, Inc.
Emisphere Technologies, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the oral delivery of otherwise injectable drugs. Emisphere’s business strategy is to develop oral forms of injectable drugs, either alone or with corporate partners, by applying its proprietary eligen(R) technology to those drugs or licensing its eligen(R) technology to partners who typically apply it directly to their marketed drugs. Emisphere’s eligen(R) technology has enabled the oral delivery of proteins, peptides, macromolecules and charged organics. Emisphere and its partners have advanced oral formulations or prototypes of salmon calcitonin, heparin, insulin, parathyroid hormone, human growth hormone and cromolyn sodium into clinical trials. Emisphere has strategic alliances with world-leading pharmaceutical companies. For further information, please visit the Emisphere website, http://www.emisphere.com.
Safe Harbor Statement Regarding Forward-looking Statements
The statements in this release and oral statements made by representatives of Emisphere relating to matters that are not historical facts (including without limitation those regarding the timing or potential outcomes of research collaborations or clinical trials, any market that might develop for any of Emisphere’s product candidates and the sufficiency of Emisphere’s cash and other capital resources) are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the likelihood that future research will prove successful, the likelihood that any product in the research pipeline will receive regulatory approval in the United States or abroad, the ability of Emisphere and/or its partners to develop, manufacture and commercialize products using Emisphere’s drug delivery technology, Emisphere’s ability to fund such efforts with or without partners, and other risks and uncertainties detailed in Emisphere’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in Emisphere’s Annual Report on Form 10-K (file no. 1-10615) filed on March 16, 2006 and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2006, June 30, 2006 and September 30, 2006.
Emisphere Technologies, Inc.
CONTACT: Investor Relations: Stewart Siskind of Emisphere Technologies,Inc., +1-914-785-4742; or Media: Dan Budwick of BMC Communications,+1-212-477-9007, ext. 14, for Emisphere Technologies, Inc.
