Ischemix announced today the appointment of David A. DeWahl, Jr. as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Mr. DeWahl was previously a senior executive and co-founder, respectively, of Helix Therapeutics, Inc. and Life Science Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to that he was an investment banker focused on the health care and life sciences industry for over 25 years.
"We are extremely pleased to welcome Mr. DeWahl as our CEO. His background in building life sciences companies and his experience in developing corporate collaborations in the industry and in raising capital will substantially strengthen Ischemix as we continue the clinical development of our drug candidates" said Reinier Beeuwkes, Ph.D., Chairman of the Board and Chief Scientific Officer of the Company.
Mr. DeWahl commented "I believe the Ischemix strategy targeting large, unmet medical needs in the cardiovascular and renal fields and the positive data from the Phase 2a trial of our lead compound will enable us to attract the resources required to accelerate the development of the Company's pipeline."
Mr. DeWahl received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin and his MBA from Columbia University.
Ischemix' strategy is to develop novel, proprietary drugs to defend the body's cells against ischemia-reperfusion injury. The Company's lead compound, CMX-2043, is targeted to protect against heart and kidney damage due to the interruption of blood flow associated with cardiac surgeries and interventional procedures such as percutaneous coronary intervention ("PCI" or "angioplasty"), coronary artery bypass grafting ("CABG"), and myocardial infarction ("MI" or heart attack). The Company has previously released positive data from SUPPORT-1, a randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled, multi-dose, 140-patient Phase 2a study of the Safety and Efficacy of CMX-2043 in Subjects Undergoing PCI and Peri-Operative Reperfusion Treatment. The Company believes that this successful proof-of-principle therapeutic study establishes a basis for rapid further clinical development.
