MELBOURNE, Australia,
May 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/
-- Prana Biotechnology (ASX:PBT, NASDAQ: PRAN) is pleased to
announce Professor Ira Shoulson will
join the Company's Board of Directors as a Non-Executive
Director.
Professor Shoulson is one of the world's foremost experts in
neurodegenerative diseases and movement disorders, and the founder
of international academic consortia the Huntington Study Group and
Parkinson Study Group, which have been instrumental in the
development of innovative drugs to treat these disabling
neurological conditions. This is his first company Board
position.
Professor Shoulson is Professor of Neurology, Pharmacology and
Human Science at Georgetown University,
Washington, DC, USA, and Director
of the University's Program for Regulatory Science and Medicine
(PRSM). He is also principal investigator of the Georgetown University Center of Excellence in
Regulatory Science and Innovation (CERSI), one of four research and
education centers currently funded by the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA).
Professor Shoulson has served as a consultant to, and member of,
several FDA advisory committees over the past three decades, and
has been involved in eight successful new drug applications to the
FDA, notably long-acting methylphenidate (Concerta©) for attention
deficit disorder, rasagiline (Azilect©) for Parkinson disease, and
tetrabenazine (Xenazine©), the first drug approved by the FDA
for the treatment of chorea in Huntington disease (HD).
Prana Biotechnology CEO and Executive Chairman Geoffrey Kempler said: "Professor Shoulson's
clinical and regulatory experience will be pivotal as Prana
prepares to meet with regulators later this year to chart the next
steps in PBT2's development as a treatment for Huntington
disease."
Professor Shoulson said joining the Prana board was an
exceptional opportunity to help develop the next generation of
treatments for neurodegenerative disorders.
"I have spent my entire professional life developing treatments
aimed at making a difference for patients with Huntington disease,
Parkinson disease and similar neurodegenerative disorders," he
said.
"Based on the Reach2HD study and ongoing discovery and
translational research, I believe PBT2 is among the most promising
of experimental treatments intended to ameliorate the disabling
cognitive impairment of HD, which is a major source of disability
for our patients."
"Besides PBT2, Prana has an expanding library of compounds that
are applicable not just to neurological disorders but other
disorders including cancer."
Professor Shoulson's position as a non-Executive Director of
Prana Biotechnology is effective immediately. Prior to taking up
his position with Prana, Professor Shoulson concluded his elected
term as Chair and President of the Huntington Study Group.
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Contacts:
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Investor
Relations
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Media
Relations
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Rebecca
Wilson
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Ben Oliver
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T: +61 3 8866
1216
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T: +61 3 8866
1233
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E:
rwilson@buchanwe.com.au
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E:
boliver@buchanwe.com.au
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About Prana Biotechnology Limited
Prana Biotechnology was established to commercialise research
into Alzheimer's disease, Huntington disease and other
neurodegenerative and movement disorders. The Company was
incorporated in 1997 and listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in
March 2000 and listed on NASDAQ in
September 2002. Researchers at prominent international
institutions including The University of
Melbourne, The Mental Health Research Institute
(Melbourne) and Massachusetts
General Hospital, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, contributed to the
discovery of Prana's technology.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and
section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The
Company has tried to identify such forward-looking statements by
use of such words as "expects," "intends," "hopes," "anticipates,"
"believes," "could," "may," "evidences" and "estimates," and other
similar expressions, but these words are not the exclusive means of
identifying such statements. Such statements include, but are
not limited to any statements relating to the Company's drug
development program, including, but not limited to the initiation,
progress and outcomes of clinical trials of the Company's drug
development program, including, but not limited to, PBT2, and any
other statements that are not historical facts. Such
statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not
limited to, those risks and uncertainties relating to the
difficulties or delays in financing, development, testing,
regulatory approval, production and marketing of the Company's drug
components, including, but not limited to, PBT2, the ability of the
Company to procure additional future sources of financing,
unexpected adverse side effects or inadequate therapeutic efficacy
of the Company's drug compounds, including, but not limited to,
PBT2, that could slow or prevent products coming to market, the
uncertainty of patent protection for the Company's intellectual
property or trade secrets, including, but not limited to, the
intellectual property relating to PBT2, and other risks
detailed from time to time in the filings the Company makes with
Securities and Exchange Commission including its annual reports on
Form 20-F and its reports on Form 6-K. Such statements are
based on management's current expectations, but actual results may
differ materially due to various factions including those risks and
uncertainties mentioned or referred to in this press release.
Accordingly, you should not rely on those forward-looking
statements as a prediction of actual future results.
SOURCE Prana Biotechnology
