Full Press Release Details
Purple Biotech Debuts Scientific Advisory Board
Scientific Advisory Board inaugurates new KOL
support structure for Purple Biotech
Three advisors bring expertise as researchers,
oncologists and academicians
REHOVOT, Israel, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE)
-- Purple Biotech Ltd. ("Purple Biotech", or the "Company") (NASDAQ/TASE: PPBT), a clinical-stage company
developing first-in-class, effective and durable therapies that harness the power of the tumor microenvironment (TME) to overcome tumor
immune evasion and drug resistance, today announced the inauguration of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). Purple Biotech anticipates
conducting regular SAB meetings to advise and assist management with significant scientific judgement regarding its clinical trials as
well as to perform external scientific review of pre-clinical and R&D activities.
"I am delighted to welcome these highly
distinguished cancer researchers and oncologists as inaugural members of Purple Biotech's Scientific Advisory Board," said
Isaac Israel, Acting CEO of Purple Biotech. "Bringing together a group of key thought leaders in solid tumor research and medical
practice has been a long-standing goal of the Company. We anticipate invaluable insights from them as they help us chart our strategic
direction developing first-in-class cancer therapeutics."
The members of the SAB are:
Eyal Gottlieb, PhD, is a Professor at the
Department of Cancer Biology and Vice President for Research at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (MD Anderson). Before
joining MD Anderson in January 2023, he was Director of the Rappaport Institute for Biomedical Research, Vice Dean of Research and the
Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Chair of Cancer Research at the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at Technion - Israel Institute
of Technology. Previously, based on his independent research he became a Group Leader at the Cancer Research UK, Beatson Institute, where
he established the Cancer Metabolism Research Unit and was appointed Professor of Molecular Cell Biology at the University of Glasgow.
His research, which focuses on the metabolic vulnerabilities of cancer cells created by genetic or environmental constraints, has yielded
several key discoveries on the tumor microenvironment that are useful to research and industry. He is a Senior Editor at Cancer Research,
a member of multiple editorial boards and has co-founded two biotech companies.
Steven Maron, MD, MSc, is a medical oncologist
at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) who specializes in treating gastrointestinal malignancies with a focus on esophageal and
stomach cancers. His research focuses on applying informatics to identify novel therapeutic targets and to improve patient selection for
targeting and immunotherapies. He has a particular interest in elucidating tumor heterogeneity and developing clinical trials aimed at
overcoming this barrier. His research has been supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute, Conquer Cancer Foundation, American
Association of Cancer Research, Society of MSK, Cycle for Survival, Ullman Fund for Cancer Immunology, and Castle Foundation.
Sunil Sharma, MD, MBA, is Physician in
Chief, Deputy Director of Clinical Sciences and Professor and Division Director of Applied Cancer Research and Drug Discovery at Translational
Genomics (TGen), and also Professor of Medicine at City of Hope. His laboratory focuses on drug discovery and translational research for
novel cancer therapies, including epigenetics and immune pathways. Under his direction, his lab has discovered multiple compounds that
are in pre-clinical and clinical development to treat various solid tumors. As a practicing oncologist, he focuses on treating patients
with a range of gastrointestinal and rare cancers, collaborating with others to develop novel therapies and to strengthen early clinical
research. His extensive experience in drug development includes over 200 clinical trials focusing on novel agents for translational and
early clinical research. Previously at the Huntsman Cancer Institute he was the Deputy Director, the Co-Leader of the Experimental Therapeutics
Program and the Director of the Center for Investigational Therapeutics.
The above experts receive compensation as members
of Purple Biotech's SAB, and this financial relationship has been disclosed to their respective institutions' Conflict of
Interest Committee in accordance with each institutional policy.
About Purple Biotech
Purple Biotech Ltd. (NASDAQ/TASE: PPBT) is a
clinical-stage company developing first-in-class therapies that seek to overcome tumor immune evasion and drug resistance. The Company's
oncology pipeline includes NT219, CM24 and IM1240. NT219 is a dual inhibitor, novel small molecule that simultaneously targets IRS1/2
and STAT3. In a Phase 1/2 study of NT219, the Company is currently advancing it as a monotherapy treatment of solid tumors, and in a
dose escalation in combination with cetuximab for the treatment of recurrent and metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck
(SCCHN) or colorectal adenocarcinoma (CRC). These studies will be followed by an expansion phase of NT219 at its recommended Phase 2
level in combination with cetuximab in patients with recurrent and metastatic SCCHN. CM24 is a humanized monoclonal antibody that blocks
CEACAM1, an immune checkpoint protein that supports tumor immune evasion and survival through multiple pathways. The Company is advancing
CM24 as a combination therapy with anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors and chemotherapy in a Phase 2 study for the treatment of pancreatic
ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The Company has entered into a clinical collaboration agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb for the Phase
2 clinical trial to evaluate the combination of CM24 with the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab in addition to chemotherapy. IM1240 is a preclinical,
conditionally-activated tri-specific antibody that engages both T cells and NK cells to mount a strong, localized immune response within
the tumor microenvironment. The third arm of IM1240 specifically targets the Tumor Associated Antigen (TAA) 5T4 that is expressed in
a variety of solid tumors and is correlated with advanced disease, increased invasiveness and poor clinical outcomes. IM1240 has a cleavable
capping technology that confines the compound's therapeutic activity to the local tumor microenvironment, and thereby potentially
increases the anticipated therapeutic window in patients. The Company's corporate headquarters are located in Rehovot, Israel.
For more information, please visit https://purple-biotech.com/.
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among others, risks relating to: the expected benefits, synergies and costs of the transaction; management plans relating to the transaction;
the potential future financial impact of the transaction; and any assumptions underlying any of the foregoing; the expected timing of
the completion of the transaction and the parties' ability to complete the transaction; the plans, strategies and objectives of
management for future operations; product development for NT219 and CM24 as well as Immunorizon Ltd.'s portfolio of investigational
tri-specific antibody compounds; the process by which such early stage therapeutic candidates could potentially lead to an approved drug
product is long and subject to highly significant risks, particularly with respect to a joint development collaboration; the fact that
drug development and commercialization involves a lengthy and expensive process with uncertain outcomes; our ability to successfully develop
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Chief Financial Officer