[September 15, 2014] |
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Scholar Rock Announces Appointment of Leading Clinicians to Scientific Advisory Board
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. --(Business Wire)--
Scholar Rock, a biotechnology company discovering and developing niche
modulators that selectively target protein growth factors in the disease
microenvironment, announced today the appointment of two new members of
its Scientific Advisory Board:
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Barry S. Coller, MD, of The Rockefeller University
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Akshay Vaishnaw, MD, PhD, of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Dr. Coller is Physician in Chief, Vice President for Medical Affairs and
the David Rockefeller Professor at The Rockefeller University. An
authority on the cardiovascular biology of integrins and TGF-beta, he is
a member of the Institute of Medicine, the National Academy of Sciences
and was founding president of the Society for Clinical and Translational
Science. Dr. Coller is a pioneer in the discovery and development of
monoclonal antibodies for use as human therapeutics. He played the
central role in discovering the active component and mechanism of
abciximab (ReoPro®), and he was a leader in its subsequent clinical
development resulting in one of the first FDA approvals of an antibody
medicine.
Dr. Vaishnaw is Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. During his tenure at Alnylam, he has
applied scientifc creativity in driving the development of a novel
class of medicines, RNAi therapeutics, from which six distinct programs
have entered clinical trials under his leadership. Prior to joining
Alnylam in 2006, Dr. Vaishnaw was Senior Director, Translational
Medicine, at Biogen and led the successful development of alefacept
(Amevive™), which was approved for the treatment of psoriasis.
"I am very excited to welcome Drs. Coller and Vaishnaw to our Scientific
Advisory Board," said Nagesh Mahanthappa, PhD, Chief Executive Officer
and President of Scholar Rock. "Each brings a unique perspective rooted
in developing novel therapeutic modalities for clinical use based on
breakthrough scientific discoveries. Their insights will be invaluable
to the successful advancement of Scholar Rock's niche modulator
therapies."
The new scientific advisors join the inaugural members of the company's
Scientific Advisory Board, scientific authorities in the biology of
protein growth factor signaling with focused expertise on the TGF-beta
superfamily of growth factors: Timothy S. Springer, PhD (company
co-founder; Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School);
Leonard I. Zon, MD (company co-founder; Boston Children's Hospital and
Harvard Medical School); Joan Massagué, PhD (Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Cancer Center); Daniel Rifkin, PhD (New York University Langone Medical
Center) and Lynn Sakai, PhD (Oregon Health & Sciences University and
Portland Shriners Research Center).
About Scholar Rock
Scholar Rock is a biotechnology company focused on discovering and
developing niche modulators, a novel class of biologic therapies that
selectively modulate the activation of growth factors in the disease
microenvironment. The Company's initial proprietary and partnered drug
discovery programs target specific growth factors, including members of
the TGF-beta superfamily, which are present in the microenvironments of
significant diseases such as fibrosis, diseases of the musculoskeletal
systems and autoimmune diseases. Scholar Rock was founded based on
discoveries made by its scientific founders, Professors Tim Springer,
PhD, and Leonard Zon, MD, of Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard
Medical School, related to the molecular mechanisms of growth factor
activation. The company is backed by leading life sciences investors,
including Polaris Partners, Timothy Springer, ARCH Venture Partners,
EcoR1 Capital and The Kraft Group.
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