FREMONT, Calif., Aug. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Quark Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a development-stage pharmaceutical company discovering and developing novel RNA interference (RNAi)-based therapeutics, today announced that James D. Thompson, Ph.D., Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development, will participate in multiple roles at IBC's Oligonucleotide Therapeutics: from Concept to Implementation Conference. The conference will take place August 3-5, 2009 in Boston, MA as part of IBC's Drug Discovery Week. Dr. Thompson has been appointed a member of the conference's scientific advisory board and will deliver the Conference Chair Opening Remarks. In addition, he will give a presentation and participate as a panel moderator.
The Industry Leadership Forum panel Dr. Thompson will moderate is titled, "RNA Therapeutics - Are We Leveraging on the Promise?" It will cover the current state of development of siRNA, miRNA, antisense and aptamar therapeutics and examine how companies are capitalizing on the promise of the field. Panelists will include Paul Burke, Ph.D., Executive Director, RNA Therapeutics, Merck & Co., Inc.; Klaus Giese, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Vice President, Research, Silence Therapeutics AG; and Tod Woolf, Ph.D., President and CEO, RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation.
Dr. Thompson has been a leader in siRNA development for several years. Prior to joining Quark, he was Director of Research and Development at Genta, and previously Director of Biology Research at Sirna Therapeutics (formerly named Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals), which was acquired by Merck.
Quark Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a development-stage pharmaceutical company engaged in discovering and developing novel RNAi-based therapeutics. Quark has a fully integrated drug development platform that spans therapeutic target identification to drug development. Quark's RNAi technology includes novel siRNA structures and chemistry providing Quark with freedom to operate in the siRNA intellectual property arena, as well as the ability for non-invasive delivery of siRNA to other target tissues including the eye, ear, lung, spinal cord and brain.
QPI-1007, a siRNA that utilizes a proprietary structure developed by Quark, is being evaluated in advanced IND-enabling preclinical studies as a neuroprotective agent for eye diseases. In addition, Quark has a broad pipeline of siRNA drug candidates based on novel structures developed internally. The Company expects to utilize the structures to develop additional RNAi drug candidates.
SOURCE Quark Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
CONTACT: Juliana Friedman, Quark Pharmaceuticals, Inc., +972-89-30-5111,
jfriedman@quarkpharma.com; or Sara Ephraim, investors, +1-646-536-7004,
sephraim@theruthgroup.com, or Janine McCargo, media, +1-646-536-7033,
jmccargo@theruthgroup.com, both of The Ruth Group
Web site: http://www.quarkpharma.com/
