Rebecca Nunn Rebecca Nunn

Aqualung Therapeutics Appoints Two New Board Directors; Will Attend June 22 Bio Meeting in San Diego

TUCSON, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / June 8, 2022 / Aqualung Therapeutics, an early stage immunotherapeutics biotech company developing an anti-inflammatory therapeutic platform for serious unchecked inflammatory disorders, unanimously appointed two highly accomplished entrepreneurs and scientists to the recently formed Aqualung Therapeutics Board of Directors. Industry experts Donald Payan MD and Robert Schleimer PhD will officially begin their Board tenure in June.

Dr. Payan is an experienced hands-on biotechnology physician-scientist-executive with over 30 years' experience in biotechnology and entrepreneurial activities. Dr. Payan received his BS and MS in Physics from Stanford and MIT, respectively. He received his MD from Stanford University and completed an Internal Medicine residency and Fellowship in Infectious Diseases at the Massachusetts General Hospital, as well as an Allergy/Immunology fellowship at Harvard Medical School. He joined the faculty of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco as a Howard Hughes investigator before exiting academia to establish two companies as the CSO (Khepri and Rigel) based on his discovery and development of the first FDA-approved oral SYK inhibitor for autoimmune diseases. He also was instrumental at Rigel in developing an additional 12 IND candidates. Moreover, he has established multiple collaborations with pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Payan has over 200 peer-reviewed publications and is an inventor on over 90 issued patents. He is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation. Don was also a founding member of the BOD of Sana Therapeutics. He is currently a member of the SABs of Terray Therapeutics and Unnatural Products, as well as the co-founder and interim CEO of Evade Therpeutics.

Robert Schleimer PhD has not only a strong academic medicine background, but also strong biotech industry experience; being involved at the ground floor level with numerous scientific advisory boards, and also being the founder of a company called Allakos, which ultimately became a publicly traded company. He has over 420 publications with a focus on mechanisms of pathogenesis and treatment of a variety of allergies and inflammation. Dr. Schleimer is presently involved in studying the molecular mechanisms of allergic disease of the airways, focusing on inflammation, innate and adaptive immunity, cytokines and chemokines and the molecular and cellular bases of pathogenesis in chronic rhinosinusitis and asthma. He has a strong background in Allergy and Immunology and he is currently a Professor of Medicine (Allergy and Immunology), Microbiology-Immunology and Otolaryngology, and Head and Neck Surgery at Northwestern University School of Medicine. Both Don and Bob bring not only a strong scientific background but their industry experience in creating, building, financing biotech companies, along with successful strategic exits will bring great value to Aqualung as we continue our clinical development plans and continued emphasis on obtaining the required capital to accomplish our milestones.

Joe GN Garcia, MD CEO and Aqualung Founder states, "I am very excited for both Don and Bob to bring their fresh perspectives and impressive range of expertise to the Board at a time that Aqualung is exiting the stage as a pre-clinical company and is very rapidly moving our eNamptorTM Platform and ALT-100 mAb into human clinical trials. Their sage advice will be instrumental as we build both short and long-term strategic plans for how Aqualung can maximize the value of ALT-100 for the multiple inflammatory disease indications we have targeted. Both Don and Bob also have an outstanding track record of success in raising capital which will be highly beneficial to Aqualung."

Lastly, as Aqualung gets closer to initiating a P1A study in Healthy Human Volunteers, the company will be attending Bio 2022 and has scheduled meetings with both institutional investors and Pharma companies who are interested in licensing opportunities. Stan Miele, President of Aqualung Therapeutics states, "The progress of our company over the last 12-18 months is monumental. We have completed all of our IND-enabling development programs and intend on enrolling our "first-in-human" subject with ALT-100 mAb in June. This transforms Aqualung to a clinical development company setting the stage for this novel therapeutic to address the unmet needs of a number of inflammatory diseases. We look forward to maximizing the value and venue of Bio 2022 and sharing our investment thesis."

About Aqualung Therapeutics Corporation

Aqualung is an early-stage biotech company developing immune-focused therapeutic antibodies for patients suffering from disorders characterized by acute and chronic lung and systemic inflammation. Founded in 2016 and led by a physician scientist, Aqualung's science-driven approaches led them to the identification of nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) as a contributor to severe inflammatory diseases.Aqualung Therapeutics is developing eNamptor™, a Next Gen platform comprised of i) ALT 100 mAb, a humanized eNAMPT-neutralizing monoclonal antibody; ii) eNAMPT-Plex, a plasma-based biomarker panel comprised of cytokines, including eNAMPT, which predicts ARDS mortality; and iii) NAMPT-Gene, a genotyping assay that identifies individuals at increased risk for ARDS death. The pipeline of ALT is designed to target a range of diseases, including ARDS, ventilator- and radiation-induced lung injury, chorioamnionitis, prostate cancer, pulmonary hypertension, and pulmonary, cardiac and hepatic fibrosis (NASH), conditions each with significant unmet medical needs and with significant morbidity and mortality. For additional information about the company, please visit www.aqualungtherapeutics.com.

Read More