Abpro Expands Scientific Advisory Board with the Addition of Infectious Disease Leaders
WOBURN, Mass., Nov. 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Abpro Corporation today announced the expansion of its scientific advisory board with additions of infectious disease drug development leaders. The advisors join as the Company continues development of its neutralizing antibody therapeutic, ABP300, in clinical trials for treatment of SARS-CoV2 (COVID-19) infection.
“We are proud to have doctors George Hanna, M.D., Daniel Kuritzkes, M.D., and Steven Schnittman, M.D., join our scientific advisory board at such a critical time for our Company, and a pivotal moment during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” said Ian Chan, chief executive officer of Abpro. “Given the promise of ABP300 and its demonstrated ability to safely and effectively neutralize the SARS-CoV2 virus in non-human primate models, we are determined to advance ABP300 through clinical studies with the hope of delivering it to patients in need as quickly and diligently as possible. The proven track records and unquestioned expertise of these new, esteemed members of our advisory board will be invaluable in our Company’s push to accomplish this mission, and we warmly welcome them to our team.”
Dr. George Hanna is a physician-scientist, board-certified in internal medicine and infectious diseases, with 20 years of academic research and biopharmaceutical experience in early and late-stage clinical drug development and scientific and medical affairs, spanning multiple disease areas with a focus in infectious diseases. Dr. Hanna was most recently the Vice President and Therapeutic Area Head of Infectious Diseases, Global Clinical Development at Merck. Prior to his time at Merck, Dr. Hanna held positions of ascending responsibility and impact within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry focused on clinical development of therapeutics for the treatment of virological and infectious diseases, including Global Project Head, Antiviral Global Project Team at Abbott Laboratories, Director of Clinical Discovery, Virology at Bristol Myers-Squibb. He received his B.S in Biology from Harvard University, and his medical degree from the Baylor College of Medicine.
Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes is the Harriet Ryan Albee Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Kuritzkes has published extensively on antiretroviral therapy and drug resistance in HIV-1 infection. He has chaired several multicenter studies of HIV therapy and previously chaired the AIDS Clinical Trials Group. He served as a member of the NIH Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council and as a member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services panel on guidelines for antiretroviral therapy. He has been a member of several editorial boards and serves an Associate Editor of the Journal of Infectious Diseases. His research interests focus on HIV therapeutics, antiretroviral drug resistance, and HIV eradication. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Yale University and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Steven Schnittman brings to Abpro 35 years of experience in innovative drug development, concentrating on Virology, with special expertise on establishing and serving on data and safety monitoring review committees as well as preparing for FDA Advisory Committees/EU Oral Hearings. Dr. Schnittman is currently a faculty appointment at the Yale University School of Medicine and Physician at West Haven VA Medical Center, and is a consultant focused on solving critical issues and questions of clinical development planning that supports global regulatory approvals and commercialization. Prior to independent consulting, Dr. Schnittman served in various roles of increasing responsibility at Bristol Myers-Squibb, most recently as the Vice President of Global Clinical Research, with accomplishments highlighted by the submissions of over 10 new drug or supplemental new drug applications that led to eventual approvals by various public regulatory agencies worldwide. Dr. Steven Schnittman earned his B.S. in Biology and Economics from New York University, and his medical degree from the New York University School of Medicine.
About ABP 300
ABP 300 is a human neutralizing monoclonal antibody therapy against COVID-19 that was created using the latest technologies available for antibody discovery. ABP 300 disrupts the interaction of the viral receptor binding domain (RBD) with host angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor and has shown neutralizing efficacy in vivo against COVID-19 by blocking viral entry into cells. ABP300 recently completed a Phase 1 dose escalation study in human subjects. Recent preclinical data has also been published in Nature Communications.
About Abpro
Abpro Corporation is a clinical stage biotechnology company located in Woburn, Massachusetts. The Company’s mission is to improve the lives of mankind facing severe and life-threatening diseases with next-generation antibody therapies. Abpro’s DiversImmune™ platform has been used successfully against 300 traditionally difficult targets. The Company has a pipeline of therapies to treat cancer, eye, autoimmune, infectious diseases and other areas. For more information, please visit www.abpro.com.
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