GenStar Therapeutics Announces NIH Innovation Grants for Hemophilia and HIV/AIDS Programs -- GenStar Also Reports Key Personnel Changes --
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 7, 2001--GenStar Therapeutics (AMEX:GNT - news) today announced that the Company has been awarded by the National Institutes of Health three Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants totaling $1.6 million over a two year period. The awards will support the company's clinical trials for the treatment of hemophilia A and will aid in the development of its products for the treatment of HIV/AIDS.
``We are pleased that the NIH has recognized the value of our gene therapy products for the treatment of serious medical disorders,'' commented Robert E. Sobol, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of GenStar. ``These funds will be utilized to accelerate the development of GenStar's products for Hemophilia A and HIV/AIDS.''
GenStar also announced today that Dr. Wei-Wei Zhang will become the Chair of the company's scientific advisory board. He was formerly Senior Vice President of Research and Development at the company. Dr. Yawen Chiang will join the company in this position, responsible for further advancing GenStar's research and development efforts. In addition, Dr. Xiangming Fang, co-inventor of GenStar's MAX-AD technologies, has been promoted to Vice President of Vector Development and Hemophilia.
Dr. Zhang was formerly the Director of the Gene Therapy Unit of Baxter Healthcare Corporation. Dr. Zhang established the Department of Molecular Biology in Baxter's Gene Therapy Unit. Dr. Zhang has significant expertise in vector technology, particularly with adenoviral vectors and their application in gene therapy of cancer and hemophilia. Prior to joining Baxter, Dr. Zhang was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Zhang received a Ph.D. in molecular biology and protein chemistry from The University of Alabama. He is internationally recognized for his expertise in viral vector systems.
Dr. Chiang joins the company with 17 years of research and development experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. She was previously the Director for the Aventis/Gencell Research Center, where she was responsible for research and project management, alliance and collaboration management, and technology transfer. Dr. Chiang was also Vice President of Immunology and Preclinical Studies at Novartis/Genetic Therapy Inc., where her research focused on the development of gene therapy approaches for the treatment of cancer, infectious diseases, genetic diseases, and diseases of the cardiovascular and central nervous systems. Dr. Chiang received her Ph.D. in molecular biology/immunology from George Washington University.
Dr. Fang's 18 years of biomedical research experience includes 9 years of specialization in gene therapy, including viral, non-viral and cell-based ex vivo gene therapeutic approaches. Prior to joining GenStar, Dr. Fang developed expertise in gene expression and regulation and vector technology, with a particular focus on adenoviral vectors and their application in gene therapy of cancer and hemophilia. Previously at GenStar, Dr. Fang served as the Director of Preclinical Studies. She received her Ph.D. in molecular biology from The University of Alabama.
GenStar's MAX-AD Factor VIII gene therapy product for hemophilia A is a gene delivery system derived from the adenovirus. In contrast to earlier gene delivery approaches, GenStar's delivery system has been engineered to remove all the viral genes providing a large DNA-delivery capacity for therapeutic genes that are responsible for the production of Factor VIII.
GenStar Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative gene therapy products for the treatment of serious medical disorders. The Company's research and development efforts, utilizing advanced gene delivery technologies, are focused on hemophilia, cancer, and vaccines. The Company's MAX-AD FVIII program is being developed in collaboration with Baxter Healthcare and its prostate cancer and HIV/AIDS product development programs are supported, in part, by grants from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health. |
