MIAMI, Sept. 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ADvantage Therapeutics, Inc., a leading clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to the advancement of innovative therapies for Alzheimer’s disease, proudly announces the recent appointment of Dr. William A. Haseltine as Strategic Advisor. Dr. Haseltine brings a wealth of experience in biomedical research and biotechnology entrepreneurship that will significantly enhance the company’s strategic direction and research initiatives.
Dr. Haseltine is renowned for his pioneering contributions to the fields of virology, cancer research, and biotechnology. As the founder of several successful biotech companies, including Human Genome Sciences, Dr. Haseltine has been instrumental in advancing the understanding and treatment of numerous diseases. His extensive background includes significant roles in academia, industry, and public health, where his leadership and expertise have led to groundbreaking discoveries and therapeutic advancements.
“We are thrilled to have Dr. Haseltine join our team as a Strategic Advisor,” said Jeffrey Madden, CEO of ADvantage Therapeutics, Inc. “His visionary approach to biomedical research will be invaluable as we advance our pipeline of innovative therapies for Alzheimer’s disease and other age-related diseases. Moreover, Dr. Haseltine’s guidance will accelerate our work on Klotho which may represent a new class of therapeutic aimed towards diseases of aging as we seek to develop effective treatments that can make a profound impact on patients’ lives.”
Dr. Haseltine expressed his enthusiasm for the collaboration, stating, “I am excited to join ADvantage Therapeutics at such a pivotal time in the company’s development. Alzheimer’s disease remains one of the most challenging and complex neurological disorders, and I look forward to working with the talented team at ADvantage Therapeutics to explore new potential therapies including novel therapeutic solutions such as Klotho.”
“The anti-aging protein Klotho is unique” says Dr. Carmela Abraham, ADvantage’s Chief Science Officer, who studied Klotho for over 20 years at Boston University School of Medicine and was the first to observe its decline with aging in the Central Nervous System. “Its pleotropic functions are beneficial to several organs and cells, while its absence leads to age-related diseases and early death. Our mRNA therapy will increase the levels of Klotho to those found in young and healthy individuals”.
ADvantage Therapeutics, Inc. is at the forefront of developing next-generation therapies aimed at modifying the course of Alzheimer’s disease and other age-related conditions. With a robust pipeline that includes promising candidates in various stages of clinical development, the company is committed to addressing the unmet medical needs of patients through cutting-edge science and innovative treatment approaches, which it believes will ultimately have a significant impact on longevity.
About Klotho
Klotho, a protein encoded by the KL gene, is renowned for its significant anti-aging properties. Expressed in various cells, particularly in the kidneys and brain, Klotho acts as a circulating protein hormone with numerous health benefits, including neuroprotection, antioxidative effects, and tumor suppression. As Klotho levels naturally decline with age, the risk of age-related diseases such as cognitive decline, chronic kidney disease, and cancer increases. ADvantage Therapeutics is pioneering a novel approach of using mRNA technology to enhance Klotho expression by the body’s own cells to produce this vital protein. Their proprietary mRNA sequences have shown promising results, significantly boosting Klotho production and overcoming some of the limitations of protein delivery methods. By enabling sustained Klotho expression and developing innovative delivery systems that can cross the blood-brain barrier, ADvantage Therapeutics is poised to revolutionize anti-aging therapies and potentially extend healthy human lifespan.
About AD04™
ADvantage Therapeutics is developing AD04™ as a new class of therapeutic for mild Alzheimer’s disease that exhibits durable multifaceted effects, including both immediate symptomatic relief and long-term disease-modification. The compound has been used extensively as an adjuvant in human and animal vaccination programs. In a previous trial, AD04™ serving as a control against another compound appeared to demonstrate statistically significant slower decline in cognitive and quality of life clinical measures compared to other treatment groups. AD04™ also showed slower decline in hippocampal volume as a biomarker.
The Company believes that rather than being limited to a specific aspect of AD pathology, such as amyloid beta or tau, AD04™ may restore expression of genes in lipid metabolism, improve phagocytosis and reduce inflammation. Through multiple mechanisms AD04™ functions as an immunomodulator, stimulating and/or regulating the immune system to reduce AD pathology.
About Alzheimer’s Disease
About fifty million people worldwide suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease, which is the sixth leading cause of death in industrialized countries. In 2019, the World Health Organization estimated the total worldwide cost of dementia at $1.3 trillion and expects this cost to rise to $2 trillion by 2030. The socio-economic burden of Alzheimer’s Disease is enormous. AD devastates the lives of patients and their families. AD victims lose their memory and independence. Alzheimer’s Disease is a high unmet medical need as there are currently no disease-modifying drugs approved worldwide. The availability of a safe, effective, affordable drug would transform the life of an AD patient from accepting a debilitating disease to the retention of personality, independence, and dignity.
About ADvantage Therapeutics, Inc.
Headquartered in the Wynwood neighborhood in Miami, ADvantage Therapeutics is developing therapies to treat neurodegenerative conditions with a central focus on Alzheimer’s Disease. The Company’s lead compound AD04™ is a subcutaneous injectable therapy that entered, in November 2023, confirmatory Phase 2b clinical trials in Europe, to evaluate its safety and efficacy in early AD patients. The Company believes that AD04™ may function as an immunomodulator, stimulating and regulating the immune system to reduce AD pathology, rather than limiting therapy to attack the misfolded proteins, beta amyloid and tau. The Company is exploring additional approaches to mitigating neurodegenerative disease, among them increasing the levels of Klotho, a life and health extending protein which will have an overall impact on longevity.
About ADvantage Therapeutics GmbH
ADvantage Therapeutics GmbH, founded in 2021, is the Vienna BioCenter-based subsidiary of ADvantage Therapeutics, Inc., where the Company conducts early preclinical research and drug development.
Safe Harbor-Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including statements of potential mode of action, potential clinical effect, potential safety, and ADvantage’s potential clinical development program and pipeline program. ADvantage is in the early stages of developing and testing its AD04™ compound and may not receive future regulatory approvals needed for marketing it as a drug. The described clinical effect of our lead compound AD04™ is primarily based on results of a Phase 2 study designed to evaluate a different compound. The described results need to be confirmed for proof of concept, might not be representative of larger scale clinical trials, and do not guarantee future clinical success. Any preclinical results presented here are interim. The mechanism of action of AD04™, as potentially determined in our future investigations, particularly in future clinical trials with patients with Alzheimer’s Disease, might differ from the one presented.
For more information, please contact:
Jeffrey Madden, CEO
ADvantage Therapeutics, Inc.
195 NW 40th Street
Miami, FL 33127
Jeff@advantagetherapeutics.com
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