City of Industry, CA , Nov. 27, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marina Biotech, Inc. (OTCQB: MRNA), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapeutics for hypertension, arthritis, pain and oncology, announced today the appointment of Mr. Isaac Blech to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. Additionally Marina Biotech also has entered into a Note Purchase Agreement with a trust affiliated with Mr. Blech pursuant to which the Company will issue a secured convertible promissory note in the aggregate principal amount of $500,000. The Note will become due and payable on March 31, 2018.
“We are honored to have such an accomplished biotech entrepreneur and investor such as Isaac joining our Board,” Dr. Vuong Trieu, Executive Chairman of Marina Biotech, stated. “Isaac’s impressive track record in helping to create and grow leading companies will be instrumental at this critical point in our company history. His involvement will allow us to move forward with the commercialization of our FDA-approved product Prestalia, and other innovative drugs for the treatment of hypertension, of which more than half of the 75 million patients are still struggling to achieve blood pressure control.”
Isaac Blech, newly appoint member of the Board of Directors, commented, “I am pleased to join Marina’s Board, and I look forward to providing strategic insight and guidance through this transformative period of Marina Biotech.”
Mr. Blech, an experienced biotechnology entrepreneur and investor, brings to Marina over 35 years of expertise in the biotech industry. He has founded and served on the board of a number of companies that have produced major advances in a broad array of diseases, including the diagnosis of chlamydia, herpes, syphilis and HIV, and the treatment of cystic fibrosis, sexual dysfunction, multiple myeloma and many forms of cancer and hematological disease. Among the companies he has established are Celgene Corporation, the world’s leading company in cancer and hematology, ICOS Corporation, which developed the drug Cialis and was purchased by Eli Lilly, Nova Pharmaceutical Corporation, which developed a new treatment for brain cancer, Gliadel, which was purchased by Johnson & Johnson, Pathogenesis Corporation, which developed the leading drug for cystic fibrosis and was purchased by Chiron, and Genetics Systems Corporation, which developed the first rapid accurate diagnostic for chlamydia and the first accurate test to safe guard the world’s blood supply from the AIDS virus and was later purchased by Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Among the boards Mr. Blech currently serves on are Cerecor, Inc., a CNS company, ContraFect Corporation, an infectious disease company and Edge Therapeutics, Inc., a company that treats life-threatening neurological conditions.
About Prestalia®
Prestalia contains perindopril arginine, an ACE inhibitor, and amlodipine, a dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker, and is indicated for the treatment of hypertension to lower blood pressure. Prestalia may be used in patients whose blood pressure is not adequately controlled on monotherapy. Prestalia may be used as initial therapy in patients likely to need multiple drugs to achieve blood pressure goals. Lowering blood pressure reduces the risk of fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events, primarily strokes and myocardial infarctions. These benefits have been seen in controlled trials of antihypertensive drugs from a wide variety of pharmacologic classes, including amlodipine and the ACE inhibitor class to which perindopril principally belongs.
About Marina Biotech
Our mission is to provide effective and patient centric treatment for hypertension – including resistant hypertension – and in doing so creating a universal platform for the effective treatment of hypertension as well as for the distribution of fixed dose combination [FDC] hypertensive drugs such as Prestalia and those in our pipeline. The Company’s commercial product, Prestalia, is approved by the US FDA for the treatment of hypertension and is being commercialized through the DyrctAxess platform. The company is also developing and commercializing late stage, non-addictive pain therapeutics. The company’s ‘next-generation of celecoxib,’ including IT-102 and IT-103, are designed to control the dangerous side-effects of edema that prohibit the drug from being prescribed at higher doses. These have the potential of replacing opioids and combatting the opioid epidemic. Additional information about Marina Biotech is available at http://www.marinabio.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements made in this news release may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Federal Securities laws that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and involve factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or suggested. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: (i) the ability of Marina Biotech to successfully integrate its business operations with those of IthenaPharma; (ii) the ability of Marina Biotech to obtain funding to support its clinical development; (iii) the ability of Marina Biotech to attract and/or maintain manufacturing, research, development and commercialization partners; (iv) the ability of Marina Biotech and/or a partner to successfully complete product research and development, including preclinical and clinical studies and commercialization; (v) the ability of Marina Biotech and/or a partner to obtain required governmental approvals; and (vi) the ability of Marina Biotech and/or a partner to develop and commercialize products prior to, and that can compete favorably with those of, competitors. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or suggested in any forward-looking statements are contained in Marina Biotech's most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Marina Biotech assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements because of subsequent events.