DALLAS and KEARNY, N.J., Dec. 11, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lantern Pharma, a clinical stage oncology biotech leveraging AI and genomics, announced today the appointment of two new members, Franklyn Prendergast, MD, Ph.D. and Vijay Chandru, Ph.D. to its board of directors. In addition, Dr. Jeffrey Keyser, JD, MPH, Ph.D., will continue in his role as chairman of Lantern Pharma’s Board of Directors. Alongside Dr. Keyser and other board members, Dr. Prendergast and Dr. Chandru bring significant clinical, scientific and technological depth, specifically in oncology, genomics and corporate development. Lantern Pharma expects their capabilities to complement its existing leadership as the company evolves.
Franklyn Prendergast, MD, Ph.D. has held numerous leadership positions throughout his medical career, including serving as Director of the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Care Center and Director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine in Rochester, MN, the world’s first and largest integrated nonprofit medical group practice. He has held board positions at Eli Lily, Cancer Genetics, Inc., the International Medica Foundation, and the Infectious Disease Research Institute, and also held positions at the National Institutes of Health, National Advisory General Medical Sciences Council and National Cancer Institute. In addition to serving on the Board of Directors at Eli Lily for 22 years, he also served on the Audit Committee at Eli Lily for 13 of those years. Dr. Prendergast holds a medical degree with honors from the University of the West Indies, is an Oxford University Rhodes Scholar with a Master of Arts in physiology and holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Minnesota, where he completed a residency at the Mayo Clinic.
Vijay Chandru, Ph.D. is a bioinformatics pioneer, and is Co-founder and Director of Strand Life Sciences, one of India’s leading clinical research and diagnostics companies. He is a Fellow of the National Academies of Science and Engineering in Asia, a 2006 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, a member of the World Economic Forum council on the future of the health sector and a member of the expert committee on innovation and entrepreneurship at the National Institution for Transforming India. In addition, Dr. Chandru advises a variety of AI and tech startups across multiple industry sectors. Dr. Chandru holds a Ph.D. in applied mathematics and operations research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; a Master of Science in engineering systems from the University of California, Los Angeles; and a Bachelor of Engineering in electrical engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science.
Jeffrey Keyser, JD, MPH, Ph.D. has once again been appointed Lantern Pharma’s Board Chairman and brings decades of experience in cancer therapeutics. He is the founder, President and Chief Operating Officer of Renibus Therapeutics, and previously served as Chief Operating Officer of ZS Pharma, where he was instrumental in multiple private equity rounds and an initial public offering before the company was acquired by AstraZeneca for $2.7 billion. While at Adams Respiratory Therapeutics, Dr. Keyser helped invent and commercialize the Mucinex® product line before the company was acquired by Reckitt Benckiser for $2.3 billion. Dr. Keyser holds a pharmacy degree and a Juris Doctorate from Creighton University, a Master of Public Administration from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Texas at Dallas.
“There are many core competencies integral to Lantern’s efforts in acquiring, developing and commercializing oncology therapeutics using AI, genomics and machine learning technology,” said Panna Sharma, CEO of Lantern. “The addition of Dr. Franklyn Prendergast and Dr. Vijay Chandru to Lantern’s Board of Directors strengthens our depth of expertise in multiple areas critical to our success and reflects Lantern’s commitment to building an organization known for its leadership, and collaboration with industry leaders.”
About Lantern Pharma
Lantern Pharma is a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on innovating the cancer drug development process by rescuing and repositioning drug candidates that others have tried, but failed, to develop and developing new drugs of its own using advanced genomics and artificial intelligence (“AI”). Lantern leverages advances in machine learning, genomics and artificial intelligence by using a proprietary AI platform to discover biomarker signatures that help identify patients more likely to respond to our pipeline of cancer therapeutics. Lantern’s focus is to improve the outcome for patients by leveraging our technology to uncover, rescue and develop abandoned or failed drugs. Lantern seeks out experienced industry partners, world-class scientific advisors and innovative clinical-regulatory approaches to deliver cancer therapies to patients as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Lantern’s current therapy product pipeline consists of three drug candidates, two in clinical stages and one in preclinical, all focusing on cancers that have unique and unmet clinical needs with a clearly defined patient population. Lantern believes that the use of machine learning, genomics and computational methods can help accelerate the development and commercialization of small molecule-based therapies. These drugs can be targeted to patients whose genomic profile identifies them as having the highest probability of benefiting from the drug, thereby achieving better outcomes. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.lanternpharma.com or view company updates on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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CAUTION: Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause Lantern Pharma’s actual results and experience to differ materially from anticipated results and expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements. Lantern Pharma has in some cases identified forward-looking statements by using words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “hopes,” “estimates,” “looks,” “expects,” “seeks,” “plans,” “intends,” “goal,” “strategy,” “potential,” “likely,” “may,” “should,” “suggest,” and similar expressions. Among other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements are Lantern Pharma’s need for, and the availability of, substantial capital in the future to fund its operations and research and development; the risk that Lantern Pharma’s A.I.-based machine learning algorithms may not be successful in drawing relevant and unique conclusions related to drug development; and the risks that Lantern Pharma’s drug candidates may experience delays or difficulties in commencing or completing clinical studies, may not successfully complete pre-clinical or clinical testing, or may not be granted regulatory approval to be sold and marketed in the United States or elsewhere. In addition to the risks described above, other unknown or unpredictable factors also could affect Lantern Pharma’s results. No forward-looking statements can be guaranteed, and actual results may differ materially from such statements. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Lantern Pharma undertakes no obligation to release publicly the results of any revisions to any such forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by applicable law or regulation.