SARASOTA, Florida, Dec. 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (OTCQB: RCPI), a clinical stage drug development company focused on the application of its lead compound being developed to treat chronic inflammatory conditions, announced today that the Company has retained two eminent "Key Opinion Leaders" (KOLs), each having renowned international expertise in dermatological disease, to advise, enhance and assist with the Company's inflammatory skin disease drug development program.
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The Company has entered into consultancy agreements with Professor Christopher Griffiths, MD, FMedSci, Foundation Professor of Dermatology at the University of Manchester, and Professor Vincent Piguet, MD, PhD, FRCP, Head of Department of Dermatology & Wound Healing and Director of the Division of Infection & Immunology at Cardiff University, based at the Welsh Institute of Dermatology, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff.
Dr. Michael Mullan, (MBBS, PhD), Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals, highlighted, "We are extremely pleased that Professors Griffiths and Piguet have agreed to assist us in our program advancing a novel approach to treating dermatological disease. Their world class scientific knowledge, and deep clinical experience will be of great benefit in developing our treatments based on a new mechanism of action for inflammatory skin diseases."
Professor Griffiths qualified in Medicine from St Thomas' Hospital Medical School, London University. He trained in Dermatology at St Mary's Hospital, London, and at the University of Michigan, USA. He was appointed to the Foundation Chair in Dermatology at the University of Manchester in 1994 and is an honorary consultant dermatologist at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust. At the University of Manchester he has served variously as: Head of Medicine and Neuroscience; Head of the School of Translational Medicine; Research Dean; and, Director of the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre. The Times of London named him as one of the UK's Top 200 doctors in 2010 and in 2011 he was appointed as an NIHR Senior Investigator and elected to Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences. Professor Griffiths is a past President of: the British Association of Dermatologists; European Dermatology Forum; and, British Society for Investigative Dermatology. He has published over 530 peer reviewed scientific articles and is lead editor of Rook's Textbook of Dermatology. His research includes all aspects of psoriasis, the "brain-skin axis" and mechanisms and repair of skin aging.
Professor Piguet trained at the School of Medicine, University of Geneva and graduated in 1995. He spent two years doing research in virology and immunology at the Salk Institute in San Diego, USA. He obtained his MD and PhD in 2000/2001 and his specialist certification in Dermatology & Venereology in 2004 from the Swiss Medical Association. He obtained a prestigious Fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation in 2003 and was subsequently promoted to Assistant and then Associate Professor at University of Geneva. In 2010 he was appointed Professor and Chair of the Department of Dermatology and Wound Healing at Cardiff University, Wales, UK and Honorary Consultant Dermatologist at the University Hospital of Wales. In 2011 he obtained UK certification in Dermatology and in 2014 became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. In 2011 he was appointed Director of the Institute of Infection and Immunity, School of Medicine, Cardiff University and in 2015, Director of the Division of Infection and Immunity, School of Medicine, Cardiff University. Prof Piguet has authored over 110 publications in the fields of dermatology, dendritic cells, HIV, gene therapy, immunology and vaccination in a range of highly cited peer review journals such as Cell, Immunity, The Lancet, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Blood, and Nature Medicine. He has received numerous grants (including from the Human Frontier Science Program and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) to further his research including in the areas of psoriasis, melanoma and immunology. Professor Piguet gave the 'Rudi Cormane Lecture' at the European Society for Dermatological Research (ESDR) in 2014 and has given more than 100 lectures at national and international meetings, including at the World Congress of Dermatology. He received a merit award in 2014 from the Society for Arts, Science and Technology in Wales, The Welsh Livery Guild. He is on the editorial boards of several journals, including the Journal of Investigative Dermatology and British Journal of Dermatology. He is the Past-President of the ESDR and current Executive Board member and Treasurer of the European Dermatology Forum, a not for profit organization dedicated to improving the healthcare need of dermatology patients in Europe.
About Anatabine Citrate:
Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals' compound is a small molecule, cholinergic agonist that exhibits anti-inflammatory pharmacological characteristics, distinct from other anti-inflammatory drugs available such as biologics, steroids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories. The Company's lead compound has been investigated extensively in pre-clinical (in vitro and in vivo) studies resulting in several peer reviewed and published scientific journal articles, covering models of multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and autoimmune thyroiditis. All these studies demonstrated the anti-inflammatory effects of the Company's compound. In addition, the Company's compilation of human exposure, safety and tolerability data, has provided important insights for ongoing clinical and regulatory pharmaceutical development.
About Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals, Inc.:
Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an emerging drug development company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of new drugs, formulations and compounds that provide therapies for chronic and acute inflammatory diseases.
For more information, visit: http://www.rockcreekpharmaceuticals.com
Forward Looking Statements:
Certain statements contained in this release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to statements identified by words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "intends," "plans," "targets," "projects" and similar expressions. The statements in this release are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of our company's management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Numerous factors could cause or contribute to such differences, including, but not limited to, failure to obtain sufficient capital resources to fund our development program and operations, results of clinical trials and/or other studies, the challenges inherent in new product development initiatives, including the continued development and approval of anti-inflammatory drug candidates, the effect of any competitive products, our ability to license and protect our intellectual property, our significant payables, our ability to raise additional capital in the future that is necessary to maintain our business, changes in government policy and/or regulation, potential litigation by or against us, any governmental review of our products or practices, pending litigation matters, as well as other risks discussed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014 filed on March 12, 2015. We undertake no duty to update any forward-looking statement or any information contained in this press release or in other public disclosures at any time.
CONTACT:
Investor Contact:
PCG Advisory Group
Stephanie Prince
646.762.4518
sprince@pcgadvisory.com
Media Contact:
PCG Advisory Group
Sean Leous
646 863 8998
sleous@pcgadvisory.com
Company Contact:
Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
2040 Whitfield Ave. Suite 300
Sarasota Florida, 34243
1-844-727-0727
IR@rockcreekpharma.com
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