WALTHAM, Mass., Nov. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Interleukin Genetics announced today the addition of three new scientific advisors to help guide the Company's development programs in key growth areas related to obesity and weight management, and gastric cancer.
"We are very pleased to welcome Drs. El-Omar, Foreyt and Meigs as scientific advisors to assist Interleukin Genetics with development programs focused on tests for medical management of obesity and its complications, and tests to assist the management of risk for selected cancers," said Thomas Curran, Interim Chief Executive Officer. "The development of tests to improve medically-supervised weight management is a key focus area for Interleukin. We also believe that our research and proprietary genetic technology in the field of inflammation will help Interleukin contribute meaningfully towards improving the prevention and medical management of gastric cancer."
Interleukin President and Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Kenneth Kornman continued, "As the second most common cause of cancer deaths worldwide and the fourth most common cancer worldwide, stomach cancer is a global health problem. Much of the disease incidence is concentrated in Asia and parts of Latin America, and in these high-risk geographies, stomach cancer is the number one or two cause of cancer deaths. While the U.S. gastric cancer rate per 100,000 adult males is 8.4, it is as high as 62.1 in Japan and 41.4 in China, and five-year survival rates are approximately 20%. This is a highly pervasive disease that we believe could be mitigated through the development of preventive approaches linked to genetic information."
Emad El-Omar MD, is an expert in genetics and the risk and management of gastrointestinal cancers. His work has led to the understanding that inflammation in the stomach caused by Helicobacter pylori infection - the bacterial infection implicated in GI ulcers and also considered the primary risk factor in gastric cancer - is excessive in people with specific IL-1 genetic variations. The excess inflammation appears to lead to decreased stomach acid and atrophy of the gastric mucosa (tissue lining the stomach), leading to cancerous changes.
Dr. El-Omar is Professor and Chair of Gastroenterology and leader of the Biology of Cancer Theme within the Institute of Medical Sciences, Aberdeen University, Scotland. He was previously at the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland. In 2000, Professor El-Omar published a landmark paper (Nature 2000 404:398-402) describing the role of interleukin-1 genetic variations in gastric cancer. Since that time, investigators have confirmed his findings in over 20 studies. His current research focuses primarily on the role of inflammation in GI cancers.
James Meigs, MD, is Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director, Massachusetts General Hospital Clinical Research Program Disease Management Research Unit. Dr. Meigs' research is focused on the causes and prevention of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. His studies emphasize the inter-related roles of obesity, insulin resistance, inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, and underlying genetic susceptibility as risk factors for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. He is Associate Editor for Diabetes Care. He is a member of the American Heart Association's Statistics committee, and recent Chair of the American Diabetes Association Council on Epidemiology and Statistics. He has authored over 175 peer-reviewed papers on causes and management of type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance and obesity.
John Foreyt, PhD is a Professor at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Medicine. He also is the Director of the DeBakey Heart Center's Behavioral Medicine Research Center. He has served as a member of the National Task Force on the Prevention and Treatment of Obesity for the National Institutes of Health; The Committee to Develop Criteria for Evaluating the Outcomes of Approaches to Prevent and Treat Obesity for the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences; and The Expert Panel on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Adults at High Risk for Cardiovascular Disease for the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of NIH. Dr. Foreyt has published extensively in the areas of diet modification, cardiovascular risk reduction, eating disorders, and obesity. He has published 17 books and more than 270 articles in these areas.
These new advisors join Interleukin's current scientific advisory board, listed below, which is led by Sir Gordon Duff:
Columbia University
For more information on Interleukin Genetics' scientific advisors, please visit http://www.ilgenetics.com/content/about-interleukin/scientific- advisors.jsp (Due to the length of this URL, it may be necessary to copy and paste this hyperlink into your Internet browser's URL address field).
About Interleukin
Interleukin Genetics, Inc. is a genetics-focused personalized health company that develops preventive consumer products and genetic tests for sale to the emerging personalized health market. Focused on the future of health and medicine, Interleukin uses its leading genetics research and scientific capabilities to develop and test innovative preventive and therapeutic products. Interleukin currently offers an array of Nutraceuticals and OTCeuticals(R), including Ginkoba(R), Ginsana(R) and Venastat(R) which are sold at the nation's largest food, drug and mass retailers, and has commercialized genetic tests for periodontal disease risk assessment, cardiovascular risk assessment, and general nutrition assessment. Interleukin is headquartered in Waltham, MA. For more information about Interleukin and its ongoing programs, please visit www.ilgenetics.com.
Certain statements contained herein are "forward-looking" statements including statements regarding our ability to develop diagnostic, personalized nutritional and therapeutic products to identify increased risk for and prevent or treat diseases of inflammation and other genetic variations, our ability to screen nutritional compounds for their effects on inflammatory responses and other genetic variations, given specific genetic patterns and our ability to make progress in advancing our core technologies. Because such statements include risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the risk of market acceptance of our products, the risk of technology and product obsolescence, delays in product development, the performance of our commercial partners, the availability of adequate capital, the actions of our competitors and other competitive risks, and those risks and uncertainties described in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006 as amended, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other filings made by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We disclaim any obligation or intention to update these forward-looking statements.
CONTACT: Paul Voegelin for Interleukin Genetics, +1-781-398-0700, Erin
Duggan of Weber Shandwick, +1-212-445-8238, Rich Tauberman of Financial
Relations Board, +1-201-964-2408
Web site: http://www.ilgenetics.com/
