Oct 15 2007, 7:00 AM EST
News source: Business Wire
Alchemia Limited (ASX:ACL) today announced the establishment of a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) comprising several international experts, with significant research and commercialisation experience, to guide the development of Alchemia's VAST(TM) drug discovery platform.
Peter Smith, CEO of Alchemia, said he was delighted that Alchemia had successfully attracted a team of this caliber. The SAB includes internationally renowned experts in the fields of GPCR pharmacology, toxicology, drug design and development, medicinal chemistry and molecular diversity, all of which are necessary for the successful development and commercialization of Alchemia's drug discovery platform, VAST(TM).
The SAB will be chaired by Dr Tracie Ramsdale, one of Alchemia's founders and former CEO. Dr. Ramsdale, an inventor of the VAST(TM) technology, said "the expertise and backgrounds of the respected individuals comprising the Alchemia SAB are perfectly suited to understand the risk-reward nature of various GPCR drug markets and maximize the value of Alchemia's revolutionary drug discovery technology".
Rather than targeting so called 'me-too' drugs, which offer little or no clinical improvements over already marketed drugs, Alchemia will target indications which are still associated with significant disability or death, i.e. diseases for which there is a significant unmet medical need.
Alchemia's SAB
Arthur Christopoulos, PhD
Dr Christopoulos is a world leader in the field of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) and in the application of analytical pharmacology to understanding drug mechanisms. He is an author of over 80 scientific articles, including approaches for detecting and quantifying the effects of allosteric modulators on GPCRs, as well as methods for quantifying drug-receptor interactions. He serves/has served on the Editorial Board of 8 international journals and is the recipient of numerous international and national prizes and awards for his research. Dr. Christopoulos is Professor of Pharmacology and co-Director of the Drug Discovery Biology Laboratory, Monash University, and a Senior Research Fellow of the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.
John Flack, PhD
Dr Flack has over 30 years experience in pharmaceutical R&D. He was Senior Vice President of Drug Discovery for SmithKline Beecham (Europe, UK and Australia) and Director of Preclinical Development for Beecham. During the 24 years at Beecham and SB he was associated with the discovery and or development of medicines that have significantly advanced the fields of antibacterial, antiviral, antiinflammatory, antiemetic and antidepressant therapeutics. He then served as Director of Pharmaceutical Development Services for Covance in the UK. His last executive role was as R&D director for Melbourne-based biotechnology company, Amrad. Since his retirement in 2001, he has held several positions on the scientific advisory boards of biotechnology companies in Australia and New Zealand.
Garland R. Marshall, Ph.D.
Dr Marshall is Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and of Biomedical Engineering at Washington University. In 1979, he founded Tripos Associates, vendor of computer-aided molecular design software. Dr. Marshall received the 1988 Award in Medicinal Chemistry and the 1996 Midwest Award in Chemistry from the ACS (American Chemical Society). He was recently selected for the ACS Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame. Awards in peptide chemistry include the 1994 Vincent du Vigneaud Award, the 2000 Cathay Award (Chinese Peptide Society) and the prestigious 2001 Merrifield Award (American Peptide Society). Prof. Marshall also serves on the SAB of the Institute for Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, the SAB of the Drug Discovery Institute of the University of Minnesota as well as a Trustee for the Torrey Pines Institute for Molec
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