TEMPE, Ariz., Aug. 2, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- OrthoLogic Corp. (Nasdaq:OLGC) today announced the formation of a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) with the appointments of Michael E. Mendelsohn, M.D. of Tufts-New England Medical Center and Charles A. Dinarello, M.D. of University of Colorado School of Medicine. The SAB will provide independent scientific advice and counsel to OrthoLogic Management and Board of Directors regarding key development decisions for the Company's novel synthetic peptides Chrysalin(r) (TP508) and AZX100. Dr. Mendelsohn will serve as Chairman of the SAB.
"I am delighted we have been able to attract these distinguished individuals to our Scientific Advisory Board," said Randolph C. Steer, M.D., Ph.D., President of OrthoLogic. "The creation of this new SAB demonstrates our commitment to the strategic drug development program we have previously outlined. It will enable us to benefit from the remarkable expertise that Professors Mendelsohn and Dinarello offer in areas of critical importance to the OrthoLogic portfolio of product candidates. Their broad-ranging experience includes vascular endothelial biology, nitric oxide and cellular regulation, molecular signaling and clinically-directed development that will help OrthoLogic advance the fundamental science behind both TP508 and AZX100 along the most promising pathways toward commercialization."
Michael E. Mendelsohn, M.D., F.A.C.C., is the Executive Director of the Molecular Cardiology Research Institute at New England Medical Center and the first recipient of the Elisa Kent Mendelsohn Professorship of Molecular Cardiology and Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Mendelsohn is also the Vice-Chairman for Scientific Affairs of the Department of Medicine and Chairman of the Research Executive Committee for Tufts-New England Medical Center. Dr. Mendelsohn is an international leader in the study of molecular vascular biology. As a physician-scientist, Dr. Mendelsohn has focused on signal transduction pathways regulating vascular tone and function. His laboratory has contributed importantly to deciphering the mechanisms of action of endogenous vascular protective molecules, including estrogen/estrogen receptors and nitric oxide/cyclic GMP signaling pathways in cardiovascular physiology and disease. Dr. Mendelsohn joined the Cardiology Division at Tufts-New England Medical Center in 1993 as the Director of the Molecular Cardiology Research Center and an Associate Professor of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Mendelsohn received his B.A. magna cum laude from Amherst College in 1978 and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1982, followed by residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Cardiovascular Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He was a member of the staff of the BWH Cardiology Division from 1988-1993 and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Mendelsohn's laboratory is funded principally by the National Institutes of Health. He has been the Principal Investigator on numerous NIH awards, including a Specialized Center of Research in Ischemic Heart Disease and a Program Project Grant studying molecular mechanisms of vascular relaxation. He is the recipient of an Established Investigatorship from the American Heart Association, the Sir William Osler Young Investigator Award of the Interurban Clinical Club, and both the Distinguished Faculty Award and the Milton O. and Natalie V. Zucker Faculty Award for Outstanding Research from Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Mendelsohn was an Invited Speaker at the Nobel Symposium, "Estrogen and Women's Health" in Karlskoga, Sweden in 1999 and the Chairman of the Experimental Cardiovascular Sciences Study Section of the NIH from 2000-2002, and is an Invited Speaker to the 2008 Nobel Conference, "Recent Advances in Understanding Estrogen Signaling" in Stockholm, Sweden. Dr. Mendelsohn's awards also include election to the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI), the Association of University Cardiologists (AUC) and the Association of American Physicians (AAP).
Charles A. Dinarello, M.D. is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver. Until 1996, he was Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine and a staff physician at the New England Medical Center Hospital in Boston. Dr. Dinarello received his medical degree from Yale University and his clinical training at the Massachusetts General Hospital. From 1971 to 1974 he was a clinical associate and from 1975 to 1977 a senior investigator at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda. Dr. Dinarello has published over 500 original research articles on cytokines, particularly Interleukin-1 and Tumor Necrosis Factor. The Institute for Scientific Information listed him as the world's fourth most cited scientist (all science) for the 20 years (1983-2003). He was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1998 and is currently a member of the editorial board of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Dinarello has trained over 40 investigators, many of whom are recognized experts in their fields. He has served on the Board of Scientific Advisors of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and is currently on the Board of Advisors of the Alliance for Lupus Research. He was Vice President of the American Society of Clinical Investigation (1989-1990) and President of the International Cytokine Society (1995-1996). The recipient of multiple prestigious awards for his contributions to the field of infectious diseases and cytokines, he received Germany's Ernst Jung Prize in Medicine in 1993. He donated the entire prize money ($125,000) to universities and research institutes in the United States and Israel, and established the Sheldon M. Wolff Professorship at Tufts University to honor his late mentor. In 1996, he received the Ludwig Heilmeyer Gold Medal of the Society for Internal Medicine (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) for his contributions to progress in internal medicine. He is also the recipient of the Chirone International Prize from the Italian Academy of Medicine. Dr. Dinarello has received honorary doctorates from the University of Marseille (France), Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel) and University of Frankfurt (Germany). In 2006, he received the Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Award for Medical Research Excellence (United Arab Emirates).
About OrthoLogic
OrthoLogic is a biotechnology company committed to developing a pipeline of novel therapeutic peptides and other molecules aimed at helping patients with under-served medical conditions. The Company is focused on the development and commercialization of two product platforms: Chrysalin(r) (TP508) and AZX100.
Chrysalin, the Company's novel synthetic 23-amino acid peptide, is being studied in several indications including fracture repair, diabetic foot ulcer healing and other disorders that may involve vascular endothelial dysfunction. The Company owns exclusive worldwide rights to Chrysalin.
AZX100 is a novel synthetic pre-clinical 24-amino acid peptide, one of a new class of compounds in the field of smooth muscle relaxation and fibrosis. AZX100 is currently being evaluated for commercially significant medical applications such as the treatment of pulmonary disease, the prevention of hypertrophic and keloid scarring and intimal hyperplasia. OrthoLogic has an exclusive worldwide license to AZX100.
OrthoLogic's corporate headquarters are in Tempe, Arizona. For more information, please visit the Company's Web site: www.orthologic.com.
Statements in this press release or otherwise attributable to OrthoLogic regarding our business that are not historical facts are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements, which include the timing and acceptability of FDA filings and the efficacy and marketability of potential products, involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from predicted results. These risks include: delays in obtaining or inability to obtain FDA, institutional review board or other regulatory approvals of pre-clinical or clinical testing; unfavorable outcomes in our pre-clinical and clinical testing; the development by others of competing technologies and therapeutics that may have greater efficacy or lower cost; delays in obtaining or inability to obtain FDA or other necessary regulatory approval of our products; our inability to successfully and cost effectively develop or outsource manufacturing and marketing of any products we are able to bring to market; changes in FDA or other regulations that affect our ability to obtain regulatory approval of our products, increase our manufacturing costs or limit our ability to market our products; our possible need for additional capital in the future to fund the continued development of our product candidates; and other factors discussed in our Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006, and other documents we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Editors' Note: This press release is also available under the Investors section of the Company's Web site at: www.orthologic.com.