LEXINGTON, Mass., March 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Pulmatrix, Inc. (NASDAQ: PULM), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative inhaled therapies to address serious pulmonary diseases, today announced that it has added two experts in the fields of allergic fungal disease, cystic fibrosis and asthma to its Scientific Advisory Board.
The two experts are:
- Richard B. Moss, MD, former chief of the Pediatric Pulmonary and Allergy Divisions and former Director of the Cystic Fibrosis Center at Stanford University, and
- David Denning, MD, Professor of Infectious Diseases in Global Health at the University of Manchester (UK) and Coordinator of the International Genome Sequencing project for Aspergillus fumigatus, a common cause of lung infections.
"With our two new Scientific Advisory Board members, we've added two leading experts in fungal infections who both have significant experience developing therapeutic agents for these infections. Drs. Moss and Denning will be able to provide real time guidance on patients and clinical trial designs, allowing us to push one of our top drug candidates, PUR1900, through clinical development," said Pulmatrix's Chief Executive Officer, Robert W. Clarke, Ph.D.
"We believe Drs. Moss and Denning will be enormously helpful in accelerating the development of PUR1900," said Richard Boucher, MD, a current Scientific Advisory Board Member and Professor of Medicine and Director of the Cystic Fibrosis and Pulmonary Diseases Research and Treatment Center at the University of North Carolina (Marisco Lung Institute). "PUR1900 would be the first treatment that delivers an anti-fungal drug directly to the lungs, and should offer major benefits to cystic fibrosis patients and others with fungal lung infections."
Currently, many CF and asthma patients experience allergic reactions when their lungs become infected with Aspergillus fungus, which Dr. Denning has studied extensively and has founded a comprehensive online resource to track developments in the field. Doctors now try to treat those infections with an oral drug, itraconazole. But in more than half the patients, absorption from the gut is so low that not enough of the antifungal drug gets to the lungs through the bloodstream to fight the fungus. Systemic side effects are also a major problem.
"Pulmatrix is seeking to solve this problem by combining itraconazole with its dry powder iSPERSE technology," explained Dr. Denning. "That makes it possible for patients to easily inhale the drug into their lungs where it's needed—and to offer new hope to patients now suffering from serious Aspergillus infections. There are no inhaled antifungals on the market, and they are sorely needed. That's why so I'm excited about joining Pulmatrix's Scientific Advisory Board to help bring this important drug to the market."
Pulmatrix already has received both orphan drug status and a "Qualified Infectious Disease Product" (QIDP) designation for PUR1900 from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Now, the company is moving ahead with non-clinical safety testing and a Phase I trial of PUR1900 that we expect will lead to future clinical trials in patients with cystic fibrosis and severe asthma. "Based on my own experience with cystic fibrosis patients and severe asthmatics who suffer from allergic reactions to fungal infections, Pulmatrix's drug could make a real difference in people's lives," said Dr. Moss.
In addition to his research at the University of Manchester and his physician's practice at Manchester's University Hospitals, Dr. Denning has consulted with many pharmaceutical companies on antifungal drug discovery, including Merck, Pfizer, and Schering Plough. He has also founded two companies: F2G Ltd, an antifungal drug discovery company that spun out from Manchester University; and Myconostica, which develops molecular diagnostics for fungal disease.
Dr. Moss has consulted for the National Institutes of Health, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and a number of biopharmaceutical companies. At Stanford, his research group studied everything from the treatment of chronic airway diseases to allergic fungal lung disease, and he has published extensively in the areas of allergic fungal disease and cystic fibrosis.
About Pulmatrix
Pulmatrix is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative inhaled therapies to address serious pulmonary disease using its patented iSPERSE™ technology. The Company's proprietary product pipeline is focused on advancing treatments for lung diseases, including opportunities in major pulmonary diseases through collaborations, like PUR0200, a branded generic in clinical development for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and PUR1900, an inhaled antifungal that could benefit severe asthmatics and patients with rare disease like cystic fibrosis. Pulmatrix's product candidates are based on iSPERSE™, its proprietary dry powder delivery platform, which seeks to improve therapeutic delivery to the lungs by maximizing local concentrations and reducing systemic side effects to improve patient outcomes.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this press release that are forward-looking and not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning the amount and use of proceeds the Company expects to receive from the sale of the shares of common stock in the registered direct offering, the closing of the transaction described in this press release, which is subject to customary conditions, and other statements that are not statements of historical fact, and may be identified by words such as "anticipates," "assumes," "believes," "can," "could," "estimates," "expects," "forecasts," "guides," "intends," "is confident that", "may," "plans," "seeks," "projects," "targets," and "would," and their opposites and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The Company cautions that such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may materially affect the Company's results of operations. Such forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including, but not limited to, market and other conditions, the satisfaction of customary closing conditions related to the registered direct offering of common stock, the ability to establish that potential products are efficacious or safe in preclinical or clinical trials; the ability to establish or maintain collaborations on the development of therapeutic candidates; the ability to obtain appropriate or necessary governmental approvals to market potential products; the ability to obtain future funding for developmental products and working capital and to obtain such funding on commercially reasonable terms; the Company's ability to manufacture product candidates on a commercial scale or in collaborations with third parties; changes in the size and nature of competitors; the ability to retain key executives and scientists; and the ability to secure and enforce legal rights related to the Company's products, including patent protection. A discussion of these and other factors, including risks and uncertainties with respect to the Company, is set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 10, 2017, as may be supplemented or amended by the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Investor Contact
Robert Clarke, CEO
(781) 357-2333
rclarke@pulmatrix.com
William Duke, CFO
(781) 357-2333
wduke@pulmatrix.com
SOURCE Pulmatrix, Inc.
