Imperial Cancer Research Technology

GHENT, Belgium--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Confo Therapeutics, a leader in the discovery of novel medicines targeting G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), today announced the appointment of Stephen Dowd, PhD, MBA, to its executive team as Chief Business Officer (CBO). “We are thrilled to welcome Stephen to Confo and believe his considerable experience will make him an excellent addition to our team,” said Cedric Ververken, CEO of Confo Therapeutics. “Stephen is a seasoned industry expert with 25 years of experience working in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and has a proven track record in business development and R&D.” As part of the executive team, Stephen’s leadership will be key to the next stage of Confo’s corporate growth as it continues to advance its promising pipeline and maximize the value of its proprietary discovery platform. “I am excited to have this incredible opportunity at such a transformative stage of Confo’s development,” said Stephen. “With the significant enhancements made to its proven discovery engine and a rapidly evolving pipeline, Confo is well positioned to build upon its recent successes with the potential to produce multiple first-in-class and best-in-class medicines targeting GPCRs. I look forward to working alongside the team to advance the pipeline and expand the use of our invaluable platform across multiple therapeutic areas to ultimately benefit patients in need of new treatment options.” Stephen Dowd joins Confo from Rallybio, a clinical-stage Nasdaq-listed rare disease company where he served as Head of Business Development, Europe. Previously, Stephen served as Senior Director of Business Development at Kymab, a clinical-stage antibody-focused biotech which was sold to Sanofi in 2021 for $1.1 billion upfront and up to $350 million in milestones. He was also Head of Business Development at SNIPR Biome, a CRISPR microbiome therapeutics company. Earlier in his career, he held research leadership roles at GlaxoSmithKline and SmithKline Beecham. Stephen was awarded a PhD from the University of Dundee for his work at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now Cancer Research UK) and an MBA from Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge. About Confo Therapeutics Confo Therapeutics is the only GPCR company with a proprietary discovery engine that precisely targets desired GPCR conformations. This unique capability allows us to unlock a vast untapped potential for the discovery and development of breakthrough medicines. We are a clinical-stage company advancing a robust pipeline of large and small molecules focused on validated targets in endocrine and metabolic diseases, as well as addressing a broader array of critical unmet medical needs in collaboration with our partners. Our team of accomplished experts is dedicated to advancing our patent-protected technology, expanding our capabilities, and building out our pipeline to achieve the best possible therapeutic outcomes for patients. For more information, visit View source version on businesswire.com: Contacts Confo Therapeutics Dr. Cedric Ververken, CEO +32 (0) 9 396 74 00 Email: info@confotherapeutics.com Trophic Communications Desmond James +49 (0) 1516 7859086 Email: confo@trophic.eu Source: Confo Therapeutics View this news release online at:

A single MRI scan of the brain could be enough to diagnose Alzheimer's disease, according to new research. The research uses machine learning technology to look at structural features within the brain, including in regions not previously associated with Alzheimer's. The advantage of the technique is its simplicity and the fact that it can identify the disease at an early stage when it can be very difficult to diagnose. Although there is no cure for Alzheimer's disease, getting a diagnosis quickly at an early stage helps patients. It allows them to access help and support, get treatment to manage their symptoms and plan for the future. Being able to accurately identify patients at an early stage of the disease will also help researchers to understand the brain changes that trigger the disease, and support development and trials of new treatments. The research is published in the Nature Portfolio Journal, Communications Medicine, and funded through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Imperial Biomedical Research Centre. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, affecting over half a million people in the UK. Although most people with Alzheimer's disease develop it after the age of 65, people under this age can develop it too. The most frequent symptoms of dementia are memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problem solving and language. Doctors currently use a raft of tests to diagnose Alzheimer's disease, including memory and cognitive tests and brain scans. The scans are used to check for protein deposits in the brain and shrinkage of the hippocampus, the area of the brain linked to memory. All of these tests can take several weeks, both to arrange and to process. The new approach requires just one of these -- a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scan taken on a standard 1.5 Tesla machine, which is commonly found in most hospitals. The researchers adapted an algorithm developed for use in classifying cancer tumours, and applied it to the brain. They divided the brain into 115 regions and allocated 660 different features, such as size, shape and texture, to assess each region. They then trained the algorithm to identify where changes to these features could accurately predict the existence of Alzheimer's disease. Using data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, the team tested their approach on brain scans from over 400 patients with early and later stage Alzheimer's, healthy controls and patients with other neurological conditions, including frontotemporal dementia and Parkinson's disease. They also tested it with data from over 80 patients undergoing diagnostic tests for Alzheimer's at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. They found that in 98 per cent of cases, the MRI-based machine learning system alone could accurately predict whether the patient had Alzheimer's disease or not. It was also able to distinguish between early and late-stage Alzheimer's with fairly high accuracy, in 79 per cent of patients. Professor Eric Aboagye, from Imperial's Department of Surgery and Cancer, who led the research, said: "Currently no other simple and widely available methods can predict Alzheimer's disease with this level of accuracy, so our research is an important step forward. Many patients who present with Alzheimer's at memory clinics do also have other neurological conditions, but even within this group our system could pick out those patients who had Alzheimer's from those who did not. "Waiting for a diagnosis can be a horrible experience for patients and their families. If we could cut down the amount of time they have to wait, make diagnosis a simpler process, and reduce some of the uncertainty, that would help a great deal. Our new approach could also identify early-stage patients for clinical trials of new drug treatments or lifestyle changes, which is currently very hard to do." The new system spotted changes in areas of the brain not previously associated with Alzheimer's disease, including the cerebellum (the part of the brain that coordinates and regulates physical activity) and the ventral diencephalon (linked to the senses, sight and hearing). This opens up potential new avenues for research into these areas and their links to Alzheimer's disease. Dr Paresh Malhotra, who is a consultant neurologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and a researcher in Imperial's Department of Brain Sciences, said: "Although neuroradiologists already interpret MRI scans to help diagnose Alzheimer's, there are likely to be features of the scans that aren't visible, even to specialists. Using an algorithm able to select texture and subtle structural features in the brain that are affected by Alzheimer's could really enhance the information we can gain from standard imaging techniques."

- Franz Obermayr, Ph.D. Appointed as Acting Chief Executive Officer, Transitioning From EVP Clinical Development - - Stephen From Elevated from Chief Executive Officer to Executive Chairman - WALTHAM, Mass., Feb. 01, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EyeGate Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: EYEG), (“EyeGate” or the “Company”), a clinical-stage company developing products for treating inflammatory and immune diseases with a focus on the eye and nervous system, today announced that Franz Obermayr, Ph.D., Managing Director and former CEO of recently acquired Panoptes Pharma, was appointed as Acting Chief Executive Officer and will transition from his current role at EyeGate as EVP Clinical Development, effective February 1, 2021. As part of this transition, Stephen From will be elevated from his current role as President and CEO to providing strategic support as Executive Chairman. “This management transition reflects the evolution of EyeGate as we embark on initiating a robust clinical program that is moving beyond ophthalmology with the intent to extend into a broad range of therapeutic areas,” said Dr. Obermayr. “The recent acquisition of Panoptes transformed EyeGate’s pipeline, bringing PP-001, a clinical-stage, next-generation, best-in-class inhibitor of Dihydroorotate Dehydrogenase (“DHODH”) with a validated immune-modulating mechanism and potential best-in-class specificity and potency to avoid off-target side effects and safety issues. I’m honored to take the helm during this new phase of growth and look forward to working with Stephen From, the Board and EyeGate management to fully exploit the clinical potential of PP-001, while leveraging the promising preclinical and clinical data we generated through Panoptes’ PP-001 development program.” Mr. From commented, “As Co-Founder and former CEO of Panoptes, Franz is uniquely suited to lead EyeGate as it prepares to expand beyond ophthalmology. Franz‘s proven track record as a biomedical industry executive with expertise in global strategy and clinical and regulatory development, paired with his strong scientific acumen, will be invaluable as we advance our expanded pipeline. I, along with the entire Board, look forward to working with Franz and our impressive leadership team as we evolve into the new EyeGate.” Dr. Obermayr was previously the Co-Founder and CEO of Panoptes Pharma, a privately held biotech company, which was acquired by EyeGate in 2020. Before joining the management team at EyeGate, Dr. Obermayr had a major role in the development, clinical milestones and regulatory strategic efforts for the Company’s transformative asset, PP-001, which has two novel formulations (PaniJect and PaniDrop). Prior to Panoptes, Dr. Obermayr was Head of Clinical Development at Nabriva Therapeutics AG, where he was responsible for all clinical programs – including Xenleta (Levamulin), which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for community-acquired bacterial pneumonia in 2019. His earlier career involved various positions at GPC-Biotech, most recently as Director Drug Discovery. He also played a key role in the commercialization of these programs by managing large collaborations with pharmaceutical companies. Prior to GPC-Biotech, he completed his postdoctoral studies at the Max-Planck Institute for Immunobiology in Freiburg. Dr. Obermayr earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London. About EyeGate EyeGate is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing and commercializing products for treating inflammatory and immune diseases with a focus on the eye and nervous system. PP-001, EyeGate’s lead clinical-stage drug product, is a next-generation, non-steroidal, immuno-modulatory and small-molecule inhibitor of Dihydroorotate Dehydrogenase (“DHODH”) with best-in-class picomolar potency and a validated immune modulating mechanism designed to overcome the off-target side effects and safety issues associated with DHODH inhibitors. PP-001 has been developed in two clinical-stage ophthalmic formulations; PaniJect, an intravitreal injection for inflammatory diseases of the eye including posterior uveitis, and PaniDrop, a novel nano carrier technology eye drop for ocular surface diseases such as viral conjunctivitis and dry eye disease. Intravenous and oral formulations are also in development for conditions outside the ocular space. In addition, EyeGate is developing Ocular Bandage Gel (“OBG”), a modified form of the natural polymer hyaluronic acid, designed to protect the ocular surface to permit re-epithelialization of the cornea and improve ocular surface integrity. OBG, with unique properties that help hydrate and protect the ocular surface, is in clinical evaluation for patients undergoing photorefractive keratectomy (“PRK”) surgery for corneal wound repair after refractive surgery and patients with punctate epitheliopathies (“PE”) as a result of dry eye. For more information, please visit . Forward-Looking StatementsSome of the statements in this press release are “forward-looking” and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These “forward-looking” statements include statements relating to, among other things, the commercialization efforts and other regulatory or marketing approval efforts pertaining to EyeGate’s products, including EyeGate’s PP-001 and OBG products, as well as the success thereof, with such approvals or success may not be obtained or achieved on a timely basis or at all. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause results to differ materially from the statements set forth in this press release, including, among other things, certain risk factors described under the heading “Risk Factors” contained in EyeGate’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 4, 2020 or described in EyeGate’s other public filings. EyeGate’s results may also be affected by factors of which EyeGate is not currently aware. The forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. EyeGate expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to such statements to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any changes in the events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. ContactCorey Davis, Ph.D.LifeSci Advisors(646) 465-1138cdavis@lifesciadvisors.com