QR Pharma Inc., a privately held Phase 2 biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies for the treatment of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, today announced the appointment of four world-class key opinion leaders to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). These new appointments join QR Pharma’s previous roster of impressive advisors in order to provide strategic leadership and direction to support the development of the breakthrough mechanism of action of Posiphen in neurodegenerative disease.
Posiphen is a first-in-class inhibitor of the neurotoxic aggregating proteins involved in the pathogenesis of conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Posiphen has been shown to reduce the expression of key neurodegenerative proteins including amyloid precursor protein, alpha synuclein and tau. This innovative mechanism of action could be applicable to several conditions in which multiple neurodegenerative proteins share responsibility for disease pathogenesis. Posiphen is currently being evaluated in a Phase 2A proof-of-concept/mechanism study for patients with early Alzheimer’s disease.
“We are thrilled to have attracted four world-class experts in the area of neurology to our team of scientific advisors,” stated Maria Maccecchini, Ph.D., President and CEO of QR Pharma. “They join at an exciting time for our company. Recent breakthrough discoveries regarding Posiphen’s mechanism of action suggest a first-in-class disease-modifying therapeutic with broad clinical application. The experience each of the new advisors brings to our team will be invaluable in realizing the full therapeutic potential of Posiphen in neurodegenerative disease.”
“Posiphen represents an opportunity to attack neurodegenerative disease at its roots,” commented Dr. Sidney Strickland, newChairman of the QR Pharma SAB and Professor of Neurology and Genetics at Rockefeller University. “Unlike other therapeutic modalities that only attack a single axis of neurodegenerative disease pathogenesis, Posiphen targets multiple disease-causing proteins. I look forward to working with the fellow members of the SAB and QR Pharma leadership to advance this promising therapeutic agent for patients suffering from debilitating neurodegenerative conditions.”
The four new scientific advisory board members are Wiliam Mobley, M.D., Ph.D.; Gregory Petsko, Ph.D.; Sidney Strickland, Ph.D.; and Rudolph Tanzi, Ph.D.
