LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pulmatrix, a clinical stage biotechnology company discovering and developing a new class of therapies for the prevention, treatment and control of respiratory diseases, announced today that it has added Michael Yeadon, PhD, to the company’s Scientific Advisory Board to offer expertise as the company accelerates its research and clinical programs. Dr. Yeadon will have a dual role in advising Pulmatrix. First, he will be an integral member of the company’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), supporting the preclinical and clinical advancements of the company’s novel iCALM™ platform in COPD, asthma, and CF, as well as the company’s novel dry powder iSPERSE™ platform. In addition, Dr. Yeadon will serve as an executive advisor and provide regular strategic counsel to Pulmatrix’s senior management team, Board of Directors and investors.
“From a fundamental physiological principle involving the role of calcium concentrations in airway surface liquid, the Pulmatrix team has made a series of remarkable discoveries,” said Dr. Yeadon. “iCALM appears to have the credentials for pleiotropic actions completely unlike anything previously described. iCALM is a simple, inhalable therapy, projected to address the three key pathomechanistic concerns for all those engaged in respiratory R&D: inflammation, host-defense and modulation of airway mucus.”
“We are delighted to have a leader in the respiratory field of Dr. Yeadon’s caliber join our already strong SAB,” said Robert Connelly, CEO of Pulmatrix. “Drawing on his decades of practical and scientific experience in respiratory drug discovery and commercialization, we plan to engage Dr. Yeadon’s counsel on scientific, clinical, and business strategies, plans, and execution. Having him on board will accelerate our pipeline, with its lead compound focused on chronic respiratory diseases like COPD and CF, while strengthening the very foundation of our scientific and business underpinnings.”
On iSPERSE, Dr Yeadon said: “For decades, just three basic methods existed for creating inhalable drugs: nebulised solutions, lactose-based dry powders and metered-dose inhalers. Like many in respiratory R&D, I thought that was all there could be. But iSPERSE's small, dense particle technology appears to add another and valuable option. Its potential could be huge and not only for existing drugs. As a drug discoverer, I am aware of a number of areas of target-rich biological processes for which drugs could be invented, which may not easily fit into the existing inhalation drug-delivery technologies. Rather than discard such candidates, or worse, the targets themselves, I'd recommend innovators take a close look at iSPERSE. If this becomes proven in clinic, it could become the new gold standard.”
Dr. Yeadon is a world-renowned expert in allergy and respiratory diseases, with over 23 years of experience in drug discovery and development. He was most recently Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of the Allergy and Respiratory Unit of Pfizer. At Pfizer, he led the creation of one of the industry’s leading allergy and respiratory portfolios, crafting a compelling strategy for the Allergy and Respiratory business, leveraging linkages between indications and exploiting inflammation and inhalation capabilities of Pfizer. He joined Pfizer in 1995 and held a series of research and development (R&D) roles of increasing responsibility. Prior to Pfizer, Dr. Yeadon was a team leader at Wellcome Research Labs, having joined as a new post-graduate in 1988. He attended the University of Surrey in Guildford, U.K, where he received his PhD, with thesis work in the respiratory field, and a BSc, First Class, with Joint Honours, in Biochemistry and Toxicology.
About Pulmatrix
Pulmatrix is a clinical stage biotechnology company discovering and developing a new class of therapies for the prevention, treatment and control of respiratory diseases. Pulmatrix’s lead proprietary therapies, called inhaled cationic airway lining modulators (iCALM), are a novel approach to prevent and treat acute exacerbations and improve lung function in patients with chronic respiratory diseases. iCALM therapies have broad potential to treat and prevent a wide range of respiratory diseases, including respiratory infections such as influenza; ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), as well as progressive or chronic respiratory diseases such as COPD, asthma, and cystic fibrosis. For additional information about the Company, please visit http://www.pulmatrix.com.