Prana to Present at the B. Riley FBR China Healthcare Investment & Partnering Symposium in Hangzhou, China
Prana Biotechnology Ltd (ASX PBT: NASDAQ PRAN) has today announced Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Stamler will be presenting at the B. Riley FBR China Healthcare Investment & Partnering Symposium (CHIPS) on Saturday 17 March 2018 at 9.30am China Standard Time.
CHIPS is focused on building cross-border relationships between Chinese and Western Healthcare investors and companies. Approximately 1000 Chinese healthcare and strategic partners and investors will be in Hangzhou for the conference. Dr. Stamler and CEO Geoffrey Kempler, will also meet with investors throughout the week.
A live audio webcast of the presentation and subsequent replay may be accessed by visiting Prana’s website . The webcast will be available shortly after conclusion of the presentation and archived on the Company’s website for 90 days following the presentation.
Dr. Stamler joined Prana in May 2017 as its Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President, Clinical Development. Prior to joining Prana, Dr. Stamler served as Therapeutic Area Head, Movement Disorders for Teva Pharmaceuticals (NYSE TEVA) following Teva’s US$3.5 billion acquisition of Auspex Pharmaceuticals. Dr Stamler has deep drug development experience having led two neurological agents through the approval process with the FDA.
Prana Biotechnology is developing first-in-class therapies to treat orphan and non-orphan neurological diseases. Prana’s lead program, PBT434, is the first of a new generation of small molecules designed to block iron-mediated accumulation and aggregation of alpha-synuclein, an abundant brain protein widely believed to be involved in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease and related disorders.
PBT434 blocks the formation of toxic forms of alpha-synuclein, thus preventing the downstream effects that lead to cellular dysfunction and death. There is evidence in several animal models of disease that PBT434 prevents neuronal loss and improves motor and/or cognitive impairments. Based on this evidence and completed non-clinical studies, Prana is preparing for a first in-human study in 2018.
Prana also has a research collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceuticals International which covers the study of PBT434’s ability to prevent neurodegeneration in the gastrointestinal system – an important non-motor feature – often presenting early as severe disabling impairment as part of Parkinson's disease. The partnership follows the recently publicised results that demonstrate a significant reduction of alpha-synuclein in various pre-clinical models of Parkinson’s disease.