World-Class Industry Expert to Accelerate Commercialization of Universal Donor Stem Cell Drug for Heart Failure, Critical Limb Ischemia and Type 1 Diabetes
SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
Medistem Inc. (PINKSHEETS: MEDS) announced today appointment of Dr. Alan Lewis to the position of Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board. Since January, Dr. Lewis has been functioning in the capacity of Scientific Advisory Board Member for Medistem.
“We are enthusiastic that Dr. Lewis is taking the helm to help accelerate clinical development of the Endometrial Regenerative Cell (ERC) universal donor stem cell product, which is already in Phase I and Phase II studies for critical limb ischemia and congestive heart failure, respectively,” said Dr. Vladimir Bogin, Chairman of Medistem. “Dr. Thomas Ichim is assuming the role as the company’s President and Chief Scientific Officer.”
Dr. Lewis spent 15 years at the pharmaceutical company Wyeth-Ayerst, where he was Vice President of Research, leading translational research efforts in diabetes, CNS, cardiovascular, inflammatory, allergy and bone metabolism diseases. He subsequently became CEO of Signal Pharmaceuticals, a drug development company that he successfully merged with Celgene. He became CEO of Novocell Inc (Viacyte) and subsequently served as CEO of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the largest research funding body for diabetes. Most recently he was CEO of Ambit Biosciences. He currently serves on the board of BioMarin (BMRN) and a number of private biotechnology companies.
“To date the Medistem team has demonstrated remarkable accomplishments by taking a stem cell from discovery to FDA clearance in the short span of 4 years, thus positioning the company as having the longest patent life among clinical-stage stem cell companies,” said Dr. Lewis. “In contrast to other types of stem cells, Medistem’s ERC appears to be the most potent at stimulating production of new blood vessels. In addition, ERC’s proven ability to differentiate into multiple tissue types has a potential to treat numerous indications.”
Medistem has licensed intellectual property from Yale University related to using ERC to treat Type 1 Diabetes, which the company plans to develop into its third area of clinical trials.