BASEL, Switzerland and BRIDGEWATER N.J., Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Speedel announced today that distinguished scientist Professor Karl-Heinz Altmann, Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, has joined its Scientific & Technical Advisory Board.
Prof. Altmann was awarded a doctorate from the University of Basel in 1986 for his work in peptide chemistry and subsequently held posts at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA and the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. From 1990-96 he worked at Ciba-Geigy Central Research Laboratories in Basel. He was a project leader in Oncology Research with Novartis Pharma AG from 1997-2000 during which period Prof. Altmann received the “Novartis Leading Scientist Award”. In 2000 he was appointed as Head of Novartis Scientific Chemistry Council, and became a member of the Global Research Management Board, before acting in 2003 as Global Head of Chemistry of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research until his move to ETH Zurich in July 2003.
Prof. Altmann has published and lectured extensively in his area of research interest: the chemical synthesis and the biological and pharmacological profiling of biologically active natural products and their synthetic and semi-synthetic analogs.
Dr. Peter Herold, Director of Chemistry at Speedel commented: “We are honoured that Prof. Altmann has agreed to join our Scientific & Technical Advisory Board. His outstanding expertise in chemistry and pharmaceutical sciences will be an invaluable asset for Speedel as we expand our research and development capabilities.”
Prof. Altmann said: “I am delighted to be joining Speedel at such an exciting time in its development. Speedel has quickly established itself at the forefront of research into new cardiovascular therapies and I look forward to contributing to their dynamic scientific team in the further development of new pharmaceutical products.”
Prof. Altmann joins an already highly distinguished team on the Scientific & Technical Advisory Board including Nobel Prize winner Professor Ryori Noyori and Professors Daniel Bellus and Markus Grutter. (for details please visit http://www.speedel.com/section/2/subsections/3).
About Speedel
Speedel is a biopharmaceutical company that creates value for patients, partners and investors by developing innovative therapies for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Speedel is a world leader in renin inhibition, an exciting new approach to treating cardiovascular diseases. Our lead compound SPP100 (Aliskiren), a first-in-class renin inhibitor, is partnered with Novartis for phase III development and commercialisation in hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases. Our pipeline covers three different modes of action, and in addition to SPP100, it includes two compounds in phase II plus three pre-clinical projects.
Speedel develops novel therapies through focused innovation and smart drug development from lead identification to the end of phase II. We either partner with big pharma for phase III and commercialisation of primary-care indications, or we may ourselves complete phase III for specialist indications. Candidate compounds for development and the company’s intellectual property come from our late-stage research unit Speedel Experimenta and from in-licensing.
Our team of sixty experienced pharmaceutical scientists and managers is located at our headquarters and laboratories in Basel, Switzerland and at offices in New Jersey, USA and Tokyo, Japan. Since being founded in 1998 as a private company, we have secured CHF180 million (USD 140m approx.) for investment in our pipeline through operating revenues, equity and a convertible loan.
Forward-looking statements
This press release contains certain forward looking statements that can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “envisaged,” “potentially,” and “could” or “may” etc. There are no guarantees that such future events or results will actually be realized, and in particular that the aforementioned licensing agreements or approaches will result in the development of a new drug for cardiovascular indications or any subsequent commercialisation of any product in any market. Any such commercial success can be affected by, among other things, uncertainties relating to product development, regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally, the ability to obtain or maintain patent or other intellectual property protection and competition in general. Any of these and other factors can cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected or predicted results.
Speedel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
CONTACT: Nick Miles, Director Communications & Investor Relations, T:+41-61-206-40-00, D: +41-61-206-40-14, F: +41-61-206-40-01,M: +41-79-446-25-21, nick.miles@speedel.com, or Frank LaSaracina, ManagingDirector, T: +1-732-537-2290, F: +1-732-537-2292, M: +1-908-338-0501,frank.lasaracina@speedel.com, both of Speedel Pharmaceuticals Inc.
