SAN DIEGO, CA – November 27, 2013 – Curtana Pharmaceuticals, a new privately-held, preclinical stage pharmaceutical company headquartered in San Diego, has added Brent A. Reynolds, Ph.D. and Jeremy Rich, M.D. to its scientific advisory board, joining Santosh Kesari, M.D., Ph.D. and Wolf Wrasidlo, Ph.D.
Dr. Reynolds is the Director of the Neural Stem Cell Lab in the Department of Neurosurgery at
the University of Florida. Professor Reynolds holds 18 patents related to neural stem cells and
his lab is currently focused on the development of stem cell specific assays, in situ manipulation
of neural stem cells and understanding the role that solid tissue cancer stem cells play in tumor
initiation and metastasis.
“Curtana’s vision, leadership and therapeutic approach to treating brain cancers is
unparalleled,” said Brent A. Reynolds, Ph.D. “The founder’s discovery of a target that is highly
expressed in brain tumors, and, importantly, a target that appears to play a key role in the cells
that are responsible for driving tumor growth and treatment resistance, represents a major
breakthrough.”
Dr. Rich is the Chair of the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute’s Department of Stem Cell
Biology and Regenerative Medicine and is a renowned researcher who investigates cancer stem
cells in brain tumors and novel treatments aimed at slowing brain tumor growth.
“A main issue that we face in cancer research is that current treatments have evolved little over
the last two decades and do not provide a substantial improvement in survival rates for highgrade brain tumors,” stated Jeremy Rich, M.D. “We need to fundamentally shift our approach.
I believe that Curtana’s focus on inhibiting OLIG2 has the potential to disrupt uncontrolled
tumor growth and provide a substantial leap forward in improving outcomes for patients with
brain cancer.”
Curtana is targeting the transcription factor OLIG2, which is critical in tumorigenesis and
regulates the survival and expansion of glioblastoma (GBM). Typically, OLIG2 is not active in
normal brain tissue and is not found in normal tissues outside the central nervous system.
However, it is highly expressed in all diffuse gliomas and nearly 100% of glioma cancer stem
cells (CSCs) that are positive for the CD133 stem cell marker. The relevance for therapy derives from the finding that over-expression of OLIG2 drives turmorigenesis and promotes resistance
to chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
“The participation of Dr. Reynolds and Dr. Rich on our Scientific Advisory Board will be
instrumental in advancing our therapeutic program to the clinic,” stated Gregory Stein, M.D.,
M.B.A., Chief Executive Officer, Curtana Pharmaceuticals. “Further, the interest of these world
class scientists on our SAB reflects the progress we’re making in the development of OLIG2
inhibitors for cancer therapy.”
GBM is the most common and most aggressive of the malignant primary brain tumors in adults
and is one of a group of tumors referred to as gliomas. Incidence in the U.S. is approximately
10,000 cases per year. The conventional therapeutic approach for GBM often includes surgery,
chemotherapy and radiation therapy, which targets the tumor bulk, but has limited effect on
the cancer stem cells. A significant unmet clinical need remains in the GBM market as the
median survival is less than 15 months and five-year survival rate is less than 10%.
About Curtana Pharmaceuticals
Curtana Pharmaceuticals, founded in 2013, is a privately held, preclinical-stage pharmaceutical
company headquartered in San Diego, California. The company focuses on the development of
novel, first-in-class, small molecule therapeutics targeting cancer stem cells in the central
nervous system for the treatment of glioblastoma and other cancers. Curtana’s OLIG2
inhibitors will be the only adjuvant treatment for nearly all gliomas, including high-grade
glioblastomas, which specifically targets the cancer stem cells and is a potent radiosensitizer.
For more information, visit www.curtanapharma.com.
Contact Information
Gregory Stein, M.D., M.B.A
Chief Executive Officer
gregory.stein@curtanapharma.com