Contact Information: Company Contact: Edward C. Larkin Chief Operating Officer Omni Bio Pharmaceutical, Inc. 303-867-3415
Dr. Charles A. Dinarello of the University of Colorado and Acting CEO of Omni Bio Pharmaceutical to Be Awarded the Paul Ehrlich Prize
| Source: Omni Bio Pharmaceutical
DENVER, CO--(Marketwire - October 2, 2009) - Omni Bio Pharmaceutical, Inc. ("OMNI") (OTCBB : OMBP ) today announced that its acting chief executive officer, Dr. Charles
A. Dinarello, will be awarded the 100,000 euro 2010 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig
Darmstaedter Prize ("the 2010 Ehrlich Prize") for his outstanding
contributions to research in the field of cytokines. The 2010 Ehrlich
Prize will be presented on Paul Ehrlich's birthday, March 14, 2010, in the
Frankfurt Paulskirche. The decision to award the prize to Dr. Dinarello was
made by the Board of the Paul Ehrlich Foundation.
The Ehrlich Prize is among the most prestigious international prizes
awarded in the Federal Republic of Germany in the field of medicine. The
prize is awarded to scientists in recognition of their special achievements
in Paul Ehrlich's field of research, especially immunology, cancer
research, haematology, microbiology and chemotherapy. Paul Ehrlich won a
Nobel Prize in medicine in 1908 for his discovery of antibodies to treat
diseases.
Dr. Dinarello is considered a founding father of cytokine biology. Earlier
this year Dr. Dinarello was jointly awarded the Albany Medical Center Prize
in Medicine and Biomedical Research for his work in cytokine research. The
$500,000 Albany Prize is the United States' largest prize in medicine. On
May 13, 2009, Dr. Dinarello was jointly awarded the $500,000 Crafoord Prize
in Polyarthritis by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, presented to him
by the King of Sweden. Dr. Dinarello donated his prize money to the
Interleukin Foundation, which Dr. Dinarello started to help fund biomedical
research.
About Dr. Charles A. Dinarello
Dr. Dinarello is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious
Diseases at the University of Colorado Denver. He received his medical
degree from Yale University and his clinical training at Massachusetts
General Hospital. From 1974-1977 he was senior investigator at the National
Institutes of Health in Bethesda. After being Professor of Medicine and
Pediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine and a staff physician at
the New England Medical Center Hospital in Boston, he moved to the
University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine in 1996.
Dr. Dinarello serves on the editorial board of the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences as well as several scientific journals. He has
published over 600 original research articles on cytokines, particularly
interleukin-1 and TNF. He has served on the Board of Scientific Advisors of
the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Alliance for
Lupus Research, was Vice President of the American Society of Clinical
Investigation (1989-1990) and President of the International Cytokine
Society (1995-1996).
In 1993, he was awarded Germany's Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine for his
contributions to the study of infectious diseases and cytokines. He donated
the entire prize money 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. Prof. Dinarello
received the Ludwig Heilmeyer Gold Medal of the Society for Internal
Medicine, the International Chirone Prize from the Italian National Academy
of Medicine, the Carol Nachman Prize in Rheumatology, Sheikh Hamdan bin
Rashdid al Maktoum Award (United Arab Emirates) and the Beering Award
(USA). Prof. Dinarello holds honorary degrees from the University of
Marseille (France), the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel) and the
University of Frankfurt (Germany). Dr. Dinarello is a director of Techne
Corporation (NASDAQ : TECH ), and serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of
Senesco Technologies, Inc., Source MDx, GlobeImmune, Inc., and Capstone
Therapeutics.
Dr. Dinarello became the acting chief executive officer of Omni in April
2009.
About the Paul Ehrlich Foundation
The Paul Ehrlich Foundation is a foundation of the Association of Friends
and Patrons of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main e.v.
The Honorary President of the Foundation, which was set up in 1929 by
Hedwig Ehrlich, is the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, who
also appoints the elected members of the Council and the Board of Trustees.
The Chairman of the Association of Friends and Patrons is at the same time
the Chairman of the Council of the Paul Ehrlich Foundation. This committee
selects the prize-winners. The President of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe
University is ex officio member of the Board of Trustees of the Paul
Ehrlich Foundation.
About Omni Bio Pharmaceutical, Inc.
Omni Bio Pharmaceutical, Inc. (OTCBB : OMBP ) is an emerging
biopharmaceutical company formed to acquire, license, and develop existing
novel therapies which have substantial commercialization potential. Omni is
the licensee of issued and pending patents from the University of Colorado
Denver. Omni has been advancing broad-spectrum therapeutics targeting
bacterial and viral diseases, biohazards, diabetes and transplant rejection
since February 2006. The Company's core technology is based on novel
discoveries made at the University of Colorado involving therapeutic agents
already approved for use in humans. For additional Information on Omni Bio
Pharmaceutical, Inc., visit our website at www.omnibiopharma.com.