DURHAM, S.C., Aug. 12, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Curaxis Pharmaceutical Corp. (OTCBB:ASCH) today announced the appointment of Tommy G. Thompson, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and former Governor of the State of Wisconsin, as Special Adviser to the Chairman of the Board of Curaxis.
Patrick S. Smith, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Curaxis, said, "We are very excited to have Secretary Thompson join us as a Special Adviser to the Chairman. His unparalleled experience in health care policy will be invaluable to us as we move forward on Memryte, our Alzheimer's disease candidate."
Since February 2005, Secretary Thompson has been a partner in the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. From February 2001 to January 2005, Secretary Thompson served as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush. From 1987 to February 2001, Secretary Thompson served as Governor of the State of Wisconsin. Secretary Thompson has received numerous public service awards, including The Anti-Defamation League's Distinguished Public Service Award, Governing Magazine's Public Official of the Year Award, and the Horatio Alger Award. The Secretary has served as chairman of the National Governors' Association, the Education Commission of the States and the Midwestern Governors' Conference. Secretary Thompson is a graduate of, and received his law degree from, The University of Wisconsin-Madison.
As the head of the Department of Health and Human Services, Secretary Thompson served as the nation's leading advocate for the health and welfare of all Americans. He worked to modernize and add prescription drug coverage to Medicare for the first time in the program's history. A leading advocate of welfare reform, he also focused on expanding services to seniors, the disabled and low-income Americans.
Secretary Thompson is well-known for his contributions to the U.S. response to the threat of bioterrorism and for his leadership in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the United States and abroad, and he is chairman emeritus of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
As governor of Wisconsin, Secretary Thompson was perhaps best known for his efforts to revitalize the Wisconsin economy, for his national leadership on welfare reform and for his work in expanding health care access across all segments of society.
About Curaxis
Curaxis is an emerging specialty pharmaceutical company with a hormone drug product candidate for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and multiple cancers. Curaxis' therapeutic platform is based on the hypothesis that many diseases of aging may be caused by age-related changes in the function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. The HPG axis is a hormonal endocrine feedback loop that controls development, reproduction and aging in animals. This drug development platform is built on the premise that hormones associated with this feedback loop are beneficial early in life, when they promote growth and development, but are harmful later in life when the mechanism for feedback is compromised, thereby leading to disease processes, including pathologies associated with Alzheimer's disease and various cancers. We believe our discovery of similar hormonal signaling mechanisms at the cellular level in brain tissue from Alzheimer's patients and in multiple tumors will enable us to develop significant new treatments for Alzheimer's disease as well as many cancers.
Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This press release includes certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements regarding potential results and future plans and objectives of Curaxis Pharmaceutical Corporation are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations include, but are not limited to, those factors that are disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in our documents filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other risk factors may include, but are not limited to, fluctuation in quarterly results, and increased competition in our operations, our ability to continue operations as scheduled, and our ability to protect the proprietary technology we use. Further, the company operates in an industry sector where securities values are highly volatile and may be influenced by economic and other factors beyond the company's control, such as announcements by competitors and service providers.
The contents of this press release are presented as a general overview of the company. It is intended only to contain general information regarding the company and its business and does not purport to provide complete disclosure or analysis of all matters, which may be relevant to a decision to make an investment, including all risk factors or similar considerations. Although the information is believed current as of the date herein, the information may be subject to change, amendment or supplementation, and the company does not expect, and assumes no obligation, to update or otherwise revise the information herein.