TORONTO, and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ProMIS Neurosciences, Inc. (TSX: PMN) (OTCQB: ARFXF), a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of antibody therapeutics targeting toxic oligomers implicated in the development of neurodegenerative diseases, today announced the appointment of Dr. David Wishart, Distinguished University Professor in the Departments of Biological Sciences and Computing Science at the University of Alberta, as Chief Physics Officer at ProMIS. Dr. Wishart has been one of the world’s most highly cited scientists for each of the past seven years and brings more than three decades in protein folding and misfolding research to ProMIS, creating industry-leading depth in this area of therapeutic development for neurodegenerative and other diseases.
“Over the past half year as a member of the ProMIS scientific advisory board (SAB) I have participated in the ProMIS weekly R&D meetings and have come to appreciate the outstanding quality of the ProMIS scientific program and team led by Dr. Neil Cashman. With my appointment as Chief Physics Officer I now look forward to offering my experience and expertise in the field of protein misfolding to the ProMIS team, and in particular to continued expansion of the ProMIS technology platform which is uniquely capable of identifying the sequence and shape (conformation) of novel binding targets on misfolded proteins implicated in the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS.”
“ProMIS has leveraged its industry leading technology platform to create a portfolio of antibody, intrabody and vaccine candidates that are highly selective for the misfolded protein aggregates driving pathogenesis,” stated Dr. Neil Cashman, ProMIS Chief Scientific Officer (CSO). “As Chief Physics Officer, Dr. Wishart will play a pivotal role to further develop and expand the application of our proprietary platform to the biology of additional misfolded protein diseases. I would also like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Dr. Steven Plotkin for his outstanding prior service to the company as the ProMIS Chief Physics Officer since its inception.”
“ProMIS’s unique capability is our unrivalled antibody discovery platform, and Dr. Wishart has already added immeasurably to that capability,” said Executive Chairman Eugene Williams. “IBM’s quantum computing group predicted last year that within five years (i.e., by 2025) quantum computing will enable ‘developing novel biologic products based on protein folding predictions.’ ProMIS has already demonstrated that capability for years, in part by focusing on the narrower problem of predicting conformational epitopes exposed only on pathogenic, mis-folded proteins, but also by collaborating with extraordinarily talented scientists like Dr. Wishart and his team.”
About Dr. David Wishart
Dr. Wishart has been studying protein folding and misfolding for more than 30 years using a combination of computational and experimental approaches. These experimental approaches include NMR spectroscopy, circular dichroism, fluorescence spectroscopy, electron microscopy, protein engineering and molecular biology. The computational methods include molecular dynamics, agent-based modeling, bioinformatics and machine learning. Over the course of his career, Dr. Wishart has published more than 430 scientific papers, which have been cited more than 78,000 times, covering many areas of protein science including structural biology, protein metabolism and computational biochemistry. He has been with the University of Alberta since 1995 and is currently a Distinguished University Professor in the Departments of Biological Sciences and Computing Science. He also holds adjunct appointments with the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.
Dr. Wishart has been awarded research grants totaling more than $130 million from a number of funding agencies. He has also led or directed a number of core facilities and centers and currently co-directs The Metabolomics Innovation Centre (TMIC), Canada’s national metabolomics laboratory. Dr. Wishart held the Bristol-Myers Squibb Research Chair in Pharmaceutical Sciences from 1995-2005, received the Astra-Zeneca-CFPS Young Investigator Prize in 2001, was awarded a Lifetime Honorary Fellowship by the Metabolomics Society in 2014 and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2017.
About ProMIS Neurosciences
ProMIS Neurosciences, Inc. is a development stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing antibody therapeutics selectively targeting toxic oligomers implicated in the development and progression of neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Alzheimer’s disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). The Company’s proprietary target discovery engine is based on the use of two complementary techniques. The Company applies its thermodynamic, computational discovery platform—ProMIS™ and Collective Coordinates—to predict novel targets, known as Disease Specific Epitopes, on the molecular surface of misfolded proteins. Using this unique approach, the Company is developing novel antibody therapeutics for AD, ALS and PD. ProMIS is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, with offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ProMIS is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol PMN, and on the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol ARFXF.
For further information about ProMIS Neurosciences, please consult the Company’s website at: www.promisneurosciences.com
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