Vancouver, Canada. September 25, 2018 – NervGen Pharma Corp. (“NervGen”), a regenerative medicine company dedicated to creating innovative solutions for the treatment of nerve damage, today announced the appointment of Dr. Michael J. Abrams, PhD, to the Company’s Board of Directors.
Dr. Abrams brings to NervGen extensive expertise and successes gained during his over thirty-year career in pharmaceutical discovery and development. He has considerable experience transforming scientific discovery into innovative and commercially successful products. While earning his Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Abrams co-invented a technology that resulted in the development of Cardiolite, a cardiovascular radiopharmaceutical with peak annual sales of over $500M. Dr. Abrams was the co-recipient of the Georg Charles de Hevesy Nuclear Pioneer Award from the US Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging for his work in the invention of Cardiolite. Later he was the Founder, President & CEO of AnorMED Inc. which successfully developed Mozobil, a first-in class drug, approved for use in stem cell transplantation. Dr. Abrams led AnorMED for 10 years prior to its 2006 acquisition by Genzyme for $580M. Dr. Abrams has also been Executive Vice President and Chief Discovery Officer at Tekmira Pharmaceutical Corp. (now Arbutus Biopharma Inc.) and Chief Innovation Officer at CDRD Ventures Inc., Dr. Abrams is currently an Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at the University of British Columbia and is actively involved in the biotechnology community as an adviser and board member of numerous companies.
“We are well poised to drive our lead drug candidate NVG-291 into clinical development” said Dr. Wong. “We are delighted to have access to Dr. Abrams’ invaluable expertise and experience as we transform our protein tyrosine phosphatase sigma (PTP) technology into life-changing therapy.”
“I am constantly on the lookout for ground-breaking scientific discoveries that could become transformative medicine” said Dr. Abrams. “NervGen’s PTP technology has tremendous potential to bring new treatment to the nerve regenerative field, where no approved therapy currently exists. I look forward to working closely with the NervGen team to make NVG-291 a first-in-class nerve regenerative drug.”
ABOUT NERVGEN
NervGen Pharma Corporation is a regenerative medicine company dedicated to the advancement of innovative therapeutics for spinal cord injury and nerve regeneration. The Company plans to create revolutionary technologies that promote nerve regeneration. The Company will identify, evaluate and develop other drug candidates for other medical conditions arising from nerve damage.
ABOUT THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
The nervous system is the body’s command center, a complex network of nerves and cells that carry messages to and from the brain and spinal cord to various parts of the body. It controls movement, thoughts, senses, heartbeat, breathing and numerous body functions vital to living.
Nerve damage, from loss of sensation to paralysis, occurs with physical traumas such as car accidents and combat injuries. It also occurs with multiple sclerosis, heart attacks, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other diseases and traumas in which the nerves are damaged. Protective mechanisms in the body prevent or inhibit regeneration of the nervous system. Millions of individuals are affected globally and hundreds of billions of healthcare dollars spent to manage medical conditions arising from nerve injury. There are currently no drugs available to regenerate injured nerves and allow the individual to regain or improve key bodily functions.
For further information, please contact:
Bill Radvak, Executive Chairman
bradvak@nervgenpharma.com
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