LEXINGTON, Ky., Jan. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Intranasal Therapeutics, Inc. (ITI) announced today that it has formed a Scientific Advisory Board chaired by Jordan L. Cohen, Dean of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Iowa. The Board will work closely with ITI’s leadership team in directing the company’s research priorities and clinical development plans.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060119/CLTH070LOGO) In addition to Dr. Cohen, the Board’s other members are: - Paul Ashton, Ph.D., Executive Director of Strategy and member of the Board of Directors of pSivida Ltd., a publicly listed global nanotechnology company focused on drug delivery. He also is a member of the ITI Board of Directors. - Jacqueline A. French, M.D., Professor, Department of Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania, Director of the Penn Epilepsy Center and Assistant Dean for Clinical Trials. - Sveinbjorn Gizurarson, Ph.D., Professor, Pharmacy and Clinical Therapeutics at the University of Iceland and founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Lyfjathroun Biopharmaceuticals, a nasal drug delivery company. - Sam R. Sharar, M.D., Professor, Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. - Daniel P. Wermeling, Pharm.D., Associate Professor, University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy and ITI’s Chief Scientific Officer.
“We are delighted to have assembled such an accomplished group of individuals to help promote ITI’s strategy of developing differentiated nasally delivered products that address the needs of both patients and health care professionals,” said John C. Carlisle, ITI President and Chief Executive Officer. “As a group, this Board has extensive experience with drug delivery innovation and nasal drug formulation, as well as with the clinical development and the practical application of therapies related to pain, seizures and sedation -- a central focus of ITI’s current product pipeline. The Board’s collective expertise will serve as a valuable resource as we continue to advance our pipeline and develop exciting new product opportunities and strategic alliances.”
Dr. Cohen, the Board’s chairman, was Dean of the University of Kentucky’s College of Pharmacy, a pioneer in nasal drug delivery, when ITI was established in 1996. At present, all of ITI’s nasal spray products and one delivery device are licensed from the University of Kentucky.
“Jordan Cohen recognized the promise of nasal drug delivery research and was instrumental in supporting the establishment of ITI,” said Edwin Cohen, ITI’s founder and Chairman of the Board; he is not related to Jordan Cohen. “Given his familiarity with ITI, coupled with his impressive background and leadership in drug research and development, Dr. Cohen is the logical choice to head our distinguished Board of scientific advisors.”
ITI is working on the development of a number of new drug formulations and technologies for nasal delivery, including sedatives and nerve agent antidotes as well as therapies for seizures, migraine headache and panic disorder. ITI has performed 18 human trials, and patents have been issued for the lorazepam nasal compound and related delivery technology, and for a multiple unit dose delivery device. Patents also have been filed for other benzodiazepines and opioids as well as for a novel synthetic THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) nasal spray.
ITI’s Scientific Advisory Board
Jordan L. Cohen, Ph.D., Chairman of ITI’s Scientific Advisory Board, is a distinguished academic leader who has fostered collaborations between universities and industry to help bring promising new therapies to market. Since 1999, Dr. Cohen has served as Dean of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Iowa. The College works closely with the pharmaceutical industry in providing research, development and manufacturing to move new drugs to the clinical trial stage. Between 1988 and 1999, Dr. Cohen was Dean of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Kentucky. During his tenure, the College’s research funding tripled and the College ranked third in U.S. News & World Report’s colleges of pharmacy ratings. Previously, Dr. Cohen served as Assistant to the Chancellor at the University of California, Irvine, and held faculty and other leadership positions at the School of Pharmacy at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Dr. Cohen’s research interests have focused on the development of instrumental analytical methods development for drugs and/or metabolites in biological fluids and the application of clinical pharmacokinetics to assess dosing requirements for geriatric patients.
Paul Ashton, Ph.D., Dr. Ashton combines a strong research background with hands-on business experience in the drug delivery development arena as Executive Director of Strategy and a member of the Board of Directors of pSivida Ltd., a global nanotechnology company focused on drug delivery. He also serves as a member of ITI’s Board of Directors. Prior to joining pSivida, Dr. Ashton was President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Control Delivery Systems (CDS), a drug delivery company he co- founded in 1991. In December 2005, CDS was sold for $104 million to pSivida, which is listed on NASDAQ and on Australian and German stock exchanges. At the time of the acquisition, CDS had two drug products approved by the Food and Drug Administration and a third in Phase III clinical trials. Dr. Ashton is a co-inventor of these products. CDS had raised $3 million in federal funding, more than $30 million in equity financing and more than $35 million in R&D support. Over the years, Dr. Ashton has authored over 30 issued patents and has over 100 patent applications pending. He also has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts and abstracts in the drug delivery field. Dr. Ashton is a visiting University of Kentucky faculty member in Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. He also served on the faculty of Tufts University for four years and worked at Hoffman-LaRoche. Dr. Ashton received a B.S. degree in chemistry from Durham University, England, and a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical science from the University of Wales.
Jacqueline A. French, M.D., is a highly regarded expert on epilepsy and clinical trials for new seizure treatments. She serves as Professor in the Department of Neurology and as Assistant Dean for Clinical Trials at the University of Pennsylvania, and she is the Director of the Penn Epilepsy Center. Her research efforts are specifically focused on new antiepileptic drug development, and she has directed numerous clinical drug trials in the area of epilepsy therapy. In addition to having written and edited more than 100 articles and books on antiepileptic drugs -- she currently is the Epilepsy Section Editor of Clinical Neuropharmacology -- Dr. French has taken on several leadership roles within the American Epilepsy Society, including in the areas of therapeutics, practice parameters and multicenter trial implementation. She currently is coordinating 14 epilepsy centers’ evaluation of post-marketing experiences with new drugs. Dr. French received her medical degree from Brown University Medical School, completed her residency and an epilepsy fellowship at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York, and an additional epilepsy fellowship at Yale University.
Sveinbjorn Gizurarson, Ph.D., has extensive research and business experience in the development of nasal drug and vaccine delivery systems, from preformulation to the clinical trial stages. In 1991, Dr Gizurarson founded Lyfjathroun Biopharmaceuticals, a nasal drug delivery company that initially focused on the safe and non-invasive nasal delivery of antigens and later on optimizing the delivery of rapid-onset nasal products. Lyfjathroun received 11 international patents for the vaccines and drugs it developed, entering licensing and other collaborative agreements with pharmaceutical companies as well as developing its own products. Dr Gizurarson served as Lyfjathroun’s CEO between 1999 and 2005. He currently is Professor of Pharmacy and Clinical Therapeutics at the University of Iceland, where he has served on the faculty since 1991 after receiving his Ph.D. from The Danish University of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Dr Gizurarson’s research has been widely published, and he has served on journal editorial boards as well as on national and international government and academic bodies handling issues related to research and life sciences.
Sam R. Sharar, M.D., is a highly regarded researcher and clinician specializing in the anesthesia, sedation, and analgesia management of trauma victims, with a focus on the care of pediatric burn victims. During his more than 20 years at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine, first as a physician and since 1990 as a faculty member, Dr. Sharar has conducted 13 trials in experimental and clinical acute pain, and directed or participated in research and/or clinical projects that together received nearly $30 million in funding from government, corporate and private sources. Dr. Sharar currently is a Professor in the University of Washington’s Department of Anesthesiology and one of 30 select faculty at the University’s School of Medicine responsible for mentoring and teaching medical students in a four- year integrated curriculum of clinical bedside teaching, professionalism, communication and ethics. In addition, since 1990, Dr. Sharar has been an Attending Physician at Seattle’s Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center and Harborview Medical Center, the four-state regional Level I trauma center. Dr. Sharar’s work has been published in more than 80 major journals and books, and he has lectured and presented worldwide. In addition, he has assumed numerous local, state and national responsibilities in the development and assessment of emergency medical care services. Dr. Sharar received his medical degree from the University of Washington and his undergraduate degree from Harvard University.
Daniel P. Wermeling, Pharm.D. Dr. Wermeling has more than 15 years of experience in clinical drug development and is responsible for directing ITI’s science and technology activities. He served as a tenured Associate Professor at the University of Kentucky’s College of Pharmacy and was director of its Drug Product Evaluation Unit, a clinical pharmacology program, between 1990 and July 2001, when he chose to devote more time to ITI’s development. He served as ITI’s Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer from July 2001 until August 2004, when he returned to his full-time position at the University. Dr. Wermeling continues to serve ITI as Chief Scientific Officer and is the primary inventor of patented technologies to which ITI holds exclusive licensing rights. Dr. Wermeling has published nearly 60 research articles and also has served as a consultant to companies, government and academic institutions. He recently became a member of the National Institutes of Health’s Gene and Drug Delivery Systems grant review committee. He also is a founding member of the recently created Kentucky Life Science Organization, which advises the Governor on economic development policy related to life sciences.
About ITI
Intranasal Therapeutics, Inc. (ITI) is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative nasally delivered pharmaceutical products, with a particular focus on drugs to treat pain and central nervous system disorders for which there is proven, unsatisfied consumer need. The Company currently has four products in its clinical development pipeline, with several others in formulation or preclinical development. ITI’s goal is to become a leader in the field of intranasal pharmaceuticals by applying formulation expertise across a broad range of therapeutic areas to create new and differentiated products that improve safety, efficacy and convenience for patients, caregivers and health care professionals.
Contact John C. Carlisle President and CEO Intranasal Therapeutics, Inc. Tel.: 859-252-5080 Ext. 226 Fax: 859-252-7280 jcarlisle@intranasal.comwww.intranasal.com
Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060119/CLTH070LOGOAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.orgPRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.comIntranasal Therapeutics, Inc.
CONTACT: John C. Carlisle, President and CEO of Intranasal Therapeutics,Inc., +1-859-252-5080, ext. 226, or fax, +1-859-252-7280, orjcarlisle@intranasal.com
Web site: http://www.intranasal.com/