New York, April 02, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Allovate Therapeutics (“Allovate®”), a New York-based biotechnology company focused on improving treatment for allergies, is pleased to announce the appointment of Robert "Bob" Pomrenke to the position of Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1, 2019. Mr. Pomrenke brings over 25 years of sales, marketing and business development experience in the allergy immunotherapy market. He has held executive positions with Bayer Allergy Product/Hollister-Stier, Greer/Stallergenes and Antigen Laboratories, directing immunotherapy promotional campaigns targeting allergy specialists, allergy training programs, hospitals and pharmacies.
Allerdent® is a patented oral mucosal immunotherapy (OMIT) system that uses a specially formulated, fully-functional toothpaste into which proteins, such as FDA-approved respiratory immunotherapy agents, can be stably incorporated. OMIT enables regular administration of allergy immunotherapy to desensitize a patient to allergies while a user brushes their teeth. By coupling a daily oral care activity with allergy immunotherapy, OMIT, delivered using Allerdent®, can help address the issues associated with poor adherence that limits the use and effectiveness of other forms of allergy immunotherapy, such as subcutaneous injections.
Allovate® retains the global rights to develop products based on the OMIT platform for the treatment of respiratory allergies. Allovate® has licensed the rights to develop the OMIT platform for the treatment of food allergies to Intrommune Therapeutics, which is initially focused on an FDA-approved treatment for peanut allergy. Food allergy is a potentially life-threatening condition for which there is currently no treatment available.
"I look forward to taking Allovate's lead product, Allerdent®, a proprietary toothpaste base for allergen delivery, to its next level. We have excellent patient feedback that receiving immunotherapy while tooth brushing is a preferred, sustainable model. We will now seek out strategic partners who share our goal of improving the lives of patients who have allergic disease. While immunotherapy has long been recognized as the only allergy therapy that targets the underlying immune condition, subcutaneous and sublingual immunotherapy have limitations for many patients. The sad result is that far too many allergic patients who could benefit from immunotherapy do not have access to this treatment. We want to change that."
Dr. Erick Berglund, co-founder and former CEO of Allovate®, said, “I have known and relied on Bob Pomrenke’s deep industry experience since co-founding Allovate. Placing the company into Bob’s capable hands allows me to comfortably focus my attentions on developing the OMIT platform for food allergies as the Chief Scientific Officer of Intrommune Therapeutics. This is the perfect time for Bob to become Allovate’s next CEO. Bob’s expertise will be particularly relevant as Allovate transitions to its next chapter as a more sales-focused organization with its Allerdent platform. Bob’s vision, executional track record and strategy is exactly what Allovate needs.”
About Oral Mucosal Immunotherapy (OMIT)
Respiratory allergies affect at least 60 million people in the United States, resulting in 11.1 million visits to the doctor in 2010. 100 million Europeans suffer from allergic rhinitis and 70 million suffer from asthma. Symptomatic treatment, at a global cost of over $25 billion yearly, keeps symptoms at bay temporarily but does not offer a long-term solution. Allergen-specific immunotherapy is the only treatment method that targets the root cause of allergies, consistently exposing the allergy sufferer's immune system to sufficient amounts of allergenic proteins to desensitize them to allergens over time. Oral mucosal immunotherapy (OMIT) uses a proprietary, specially formulated toothpaste to incorporate and stabilize allergenic proteins that are administered while users brush their teeth. OMIT simplifies long-term daily adherence to immunotherapy for patients, while delivering key agents to broad areas of the oral cavity, including those with the highest density of the immune cells responsible for effecting immunotherapy.
About Allovate Therapeutics
Allovate Therapeutics is a New York-based biotechnology company founded in 2012 with the goal of improving allergy treatment for all patients. Allovate’s mission is dedicated to improving the delivery of medical therapy. Allovate’s lead product, Allerdent®, is designed to deliver proteins, such as immunotherapeutic agents, to the immune system while the user brushes their teeth. Allovate’s licensee, Intrommune Therapeutics, is exploring allergy immunotherapy for life-threatening food allergies.
For more information, please visit www.allovate.com.