SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (Nasdaq: LJPC) (the Company or La Jolla), a leader in the development of innovative therapies intended to significantly improve outcomes in patients suffering from life-threatening diseases, today announced that Lakhmir S. Chawla, M.D., will be joining the Company as Chief Medical Officer, effective July 1, 2015.
“Dr. Chawla brings to La Jolla a wealth of knowledge and experience, including very relevant expertise in the areas of critical care medicine and nephrology,” said George F. Tidmarsh, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of La Jolla. “We are excited to welcome him to La Jolla’s executive team at this important stage of our growth and development.”
“I am delighted to be joining this highly innovative company,” added Dr. Chawla. “La Jolla has assembled an exceptional team of professionals, and I look forward to working with them in developing novel therapeutics for life-threatening diseases.”
Dr. Chawla is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine at the George Washington University, where he has dual appointments in the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine and in the Department of Medicine, Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension. Dr. Chawla is also currently the Chief of the Division of Intensive Care Medicine at the Washington D.C. Veterans Affairs Medical Center. During his tenure at George Washington, Dr. Chawla was the designer and lead investigator of a pilot study called the ATHOS (Angiotensin II for the Treatment of High Output Shock) trial. Data from the ATHOS trial was published in the medical journal Critical Care during 2014 and demonstrated the utility of angiotensin II in patients with severe shock. These data were also used in support of the initiation of La Jolla’s ATHOS 3 trial, a Phase 3 clinical trial of LJPC-501, La Jolla’s proprietary formulation of angiotensin II, for the treatment of catecholamine-resistant hypotension, which was initiated in March 2015.
Dr. Chawla is an internationally renowned expert in the field of acute kidney injury (AKI) and is an active investigator in the fields of inflammation and AKI, AKI biomarkers, AKI risk prediction, chronic kidney disease caused by AKI and AKI therapeutics. In addition, Dr. Chawla is an active investigator in shock, inflammation and extracorporeal therapies, including: continuous renal replacement therapy, dialysis and albumin dialysis. Dr. Chawla is also the author of over 100 peer-reviewed publications and an Associate Editor for the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
About La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company
La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative therapies intended to significantly improve outcomes in patients suffering from life-threatening diseases. The Company has four product candidates in development. LJPC-501 is La Jolla’s proprietary formulation of angiotensin II for the potential treatment of catecholamine-resistant hypotension and hepatorenal syndrome. GCS-100 is La Jolla’s first-in-class galectin-3 inhibitor for the potential treatment of chronic kidney disease. LJPC-1010, La Jolla’s second-generation galectin-3 inhibitor, is a more potent and purified derivative of GCS-100 that can be delivered orally for the potential treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and other diseases characterized by tissue fibrosis. LJPC-401 is La Jolla’s novel formulation of hepcidin for the potential treatment of conditions characterized by iron overload, such as hemochromatosis and beta thalassemia. For more information on La Jolla, please visit www.ljpc.com.
Forward-Looking Statement Safe Harbor
This document contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to future events or the Company’s future results of operations. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results to be materially different from these forward-looking statements. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they were made. Certain of these risks, uncertainties, and other factors are described in greater detail in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), all of which are available free of charge on the SEC's web site http://www.sec.gov. These risks include, but are not limited to, risks relating to: the timing for the filing of an Investigational New Drug Application, commencement of clinical studies and the anticipated timing for completion of such studies; the success of future development activities for LJPC-501, GCS-100, LJPC-1010 and LJPC-401; and potential indications for which LJPC-501, GCS-100, LJPC-1010 and LJPC-401 may be developed. Subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or to persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements set forth in the Company's reports filed with the SEC. The Company expressly disclaims any intent to update any forward-looking statements.
