VANCOUVER, BC, April 29, 2021 /CNW/ - Today,
Rakovina Therapeutics announced the formation of its inaugural
Scientific Advisory Board. Made up of experts in biology, medicinal
chemistry and pharmacology, the Scientific Advisory Board will
contribute to Rakovina Therapeutics' development of new cancer
treatments informed by the latest scientific research, and
practical and clinical perspectives.
"We are thrilled to have such a talented and experienced
scientific advisory board providing critical expertise to our
team", said Jeffrey Bacha, Rakovina
Therapeutics executive chairman. "Rakovina Therapeutics will
benefit from their invaluable input as we advance our pipeline of
novel oncology assets."
Rakovina Therapeutics is committed to advancing new cancer
treatments based on novel DNA-damage response technologies.
Under the advisement of the Scientific Advisory Board, made up of
world-class experts who have been directly involved in the
successful development of multiple life-saving cancer treatments,
Rakovina Therapeutics aims to develop innovative therapies for a
range of cancer indications.
"Rakovina Therapeutics aims to become a leader in the
development of new medicines in the fast-moving DNA-damage response
field," said Prof. Mads Daugaard,
Rakovina Therapeutics' president and chief scientific
officer. "Working with our distinguished Scientific
Advisory Board allows us to deepen our commitment to
conducting leading edge scientific research and developing
best-in-class cancer therapeutics, ultimately benefiting cancer
patients and their families."
The inaugural members of the Rakovina Therapeutics scientific
advisory board include:
Dennis Brown, PhD has
been involved in cancer drug discovery and development for more
than 35 years. Initially with the Stanford Research Institute at
Stanford University where he was
involved in drug-screening activities sponsored by the US National
Cancer Institute. Dr. Brown has founded or co-founded multiple
companies including Matrix Pharmaceutical, Inc. (acquired by Chiron
Corp. in 2002), Mountain View Pharmaceuticals, ChemGenex
Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Cephalon/Teva in 2011) and Kintara
Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: KTRA, formerly DelMar Pharmaceuticals).
During his career, Dr. Brown has been involved in the discovery and
development of multiple FDA-approved cancer therapies. He currently
serves as a member of the National Brain Tumor Society Research
Roundtable, as a consultant to DelMar Pharmaceuticals, as Chairman
of Mountain View Pharmaceutical's Board of Directors and is the
President of Valent Technologies LLC, which supported the discovery
and development of Edison Oncology's drug candidates. Dr. Brown
served as an Assistant Professor of Radiology at Harvard University Medical School and as a Research
Associate in Radiology at Stanford
University Medical School. He received his B.A. in Biology
and Chemistry (1971), M.S. in Cell Biology (1975) and Ph.D. in
Radiation and Cancer Biology (1979), all from New York University. Dr. Brown is an inventor of
more than 40 issued U.S. patents and applications, many with
foreign counterparts.
Leonard Post,
PhD brings more than 35 years of drug development and
leadership experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology
industry spanning companies of all sizes. He currently serves as
member of the board of directors and chief scientific officer of
Vivace Pharmaceuticals. Previously, he served as chief scientific
officer of BioMarin, a publicly held biopharmaceutical firm with a
focus on rare diseases. He joined BioMarin when the company
acquired LEAD Therapeutics, where he was chief scientific officer
and responsible for the development of the blockbuster PARP
inhibitor talazoparib until it was sold to Medivation, Inc. and
ultimately commercialized by Pfizer, Inc. following the
$14 billion acquisition of
Medivation, Inc. Positions prior to LEAD included senior vice
president of research and development for Onyx Pharmaceuticals and
vice president of discovery research for Parke-Davis
Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Post holds a doctorate in biochemistry from
the University of Wisconsin and a B.S.
in Chemistry from the University of
Michigan.
Neil Sankar,
MD received his training in clinical research and tumor
biology from NCI Bethesda Maryland and since has held Clinical
development positions within leading Biotech/Pharma including
Genentech, Medimmune, Pharmacyclis, Fiveprime, Otsuka, Portola, CBT
Pharmaceuticals, LSK biopharma and Rhizen Pharmaceuticals. As an
expert in providing global clinical development and regulatory
strategies for therapeutic drugs, Dr Sankar has acted as clinical
lead in numerous phase I, II and III clinical trials. He is and was
instrumental in filing the New Drug Applications for the
antibody-drug conjugate Kadcyla and the B cell receptor signaling
kinase inhibitor Ibrutinib. He has extensive experience in the
application of US Food and Drug Administration regulations and the
Good Clinical Practice guidelines set forth by the International
Council on Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Registration
of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use. Dr. Sankar is an active member of
the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the American
Society of Hematology (ASH), the European Hematology Association
(EHA), Drug information association (DIA), European society of
clinical oncology (ESMO), American association for cancer research
(AACR), Enterprising Pharmaceutical Professionals from the Indian
Sub-Continent (EPPIC GLOBAL), Connective Tissue Oncology Society
(CTOS), and TiE Silicon Valley. Neil
Sankar received his MD degree from Bangalore university and internal medicine
residency from Univ of West indies, Kingston, Jamaica and trained in UK and the
Caribbean. He also holds a
postgraduate degree in public health from Queensland University in Australia.
Wang Shen, PhD is the
inventor of the kt-2000, kt-3000 and kt-4000 families of drug
candidates under development by Rakovina Therapeutics. Dr. Shen is
founder and chief executive officer of Viva Vision Biotech, an
ophthalmology company based in Shanghai,
China. Dr. Shen has more than 20 years of drug discovery and
project management experiences in large pharmaceutical companies
such as Abbott, Amgen, Sunesis and Kanion USA. He is the principal inventor of
Lifitegrast (SAR1118), a potent LFA-1
inhibitor, approved by FDA to treat dry eye disease. He also made
an important contribution to Venetoclax (ABT-199/GDC-0199), a
selective BCL-2 inhibitor, approved by FDA in 2016 to treat certain
types of leukemia. He is the co-author of over 40 peer-reviewed
publications and co-inventor of over 40 patents. Dr. Shen received
his B.S. in chemistry from Fudan University and Ph.D. in Organic
Chemistry from Pittsburgh University
with Professor Dennis P. Curran. Dr.
Shen completed his postdoctoral training in Memorial
Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center with Prof. Samuel J. Danishefsky.
About Rakovina Therapeutics Inc.
Rakovina Therapeutics Inc. was established in 2020 to develop
new cancer treatments based on novel DNA-damage response
technologies. The Company has established a pipeline of
DNA-damage response inhibitors with the goal of advancing one or
more drug candidates into human clinical trials and obtaining
marketing approval for new cancer therapeutics from Health Canada,
the United States Food and Drug Administration and similar
international regulatory agencies. Further information may be
found at www.rakovinatherapeutics.com.
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SOURCE Rakovina Therapeutics Inc.