EIP Pharma Inc., a clinical-stage pharma company focused on the development of disease-modifying treatments for dementia and neurodegenerative diseases announces the appointment of Dr. Marwan Sabbagh as non-executive director to its Board of Directors with immediate effect.
Dr. Sabbagh is considered one of the leading experts in dementia and he has dedicated his career to finding a cure for age-related neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Marwan Sabbagh is a board-certified neurologist, geriatric neurologist and Professor of Neurology at the Alzheimer’s and Memory Disorders division of the Barrow Neurological Institute at Dignity Health/St Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. Prior to that, Dr. Sabbagh was the Camille and Larry Ruvo Endowed Chair for Brain Health and Director of Translational Research at Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, Nevada. Dr. Sabbagh is a lead investigator for several Alzheimer’s prevention and treatment trials, has published over 350 medical and scientific articles on Alzheimer’s research and he serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and BMC Neurology. He is also editor in chief of Neurology and Therapy.
Sylvie Gregoire, executive-chair of the Board of EIP Pharma, said: “On behalf of the whole board I am very pleased to welcome Dr. Sabbagh to EIP Pharma. He has an impressive wealth of expertise that will complement the board and the management team’s experience as we advance our lead product, neflamapimod, for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases”.
John Alam, CEO of EIP Pharma, said: “Dr. Sabbagh’s expertise in age related neurological diseases, his experience in the management of patients with dementia and his involvement and contributions to advancing clinical research for the development of new treatments for dementias will be invaluable as we advance neflamapimod for the treatment of Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB). We look forward to his insights and contributions in growing EIP Pharma”.
Marwan Sabbagh, non-executive director of EIP Pharma, said: “I am looking forward to joining EIP Pharma and to bring my experience to support the development of an important product like neflamapimod, a first-in-class, disease modifying oral agent for the potential treatment of patients suffering from Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) and other neurodegenerative diseases. Neflamapimod has the potential to change the course of the disease and therefore the life of patients suffering from DLB.”
About Neflamapimod: Neflamapimod is an investigational drug that is brain-penetrant, oral small molecule that inhibits the intra-cellular enzyme p38 MAP kinase alpha (p38a). P38a, which is expressed in neurons under conditions of stress and disease, plays a major role in inflammation-induced synaptic toxicity, leading to impairment of synaptic function (i.e., synaptic dysfunction). In pre-clinical studies, neflamapimod reverses synaptic dysfunction, including and particularly within the part of the brain most impacted in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) – the basal forebrain cholinergic system. Results from the AscenD-LB Phase 2 clinical study demonstrated proof of concept for neflamapimod as a treatment for DLB. In that study, neflamapimod significantly improved cognition, as assessed by a DLB specific Neuropsychological Test Battery (NTB) designed to evaluate attention and executive function. In addition, neflamapimod significantly improved cognition and function as measured by the gold standard dementia rating test, the Clinical Dementia Rating Sum-of-Boxes (CDR-SB), and also showed significant impact on motor function as measured by the Timed Up and Go test (TUG). Neflamapimod is the first treatment with potential impact on cognition, function and motor function in patients with DLB. The combined pre-clinical and clinical data indicates neflamapimod treats the underlying disease process and has the potential to be the first disease-modifying treatment for DLB.
About EIP Pharma: EIP Pharma, Inc. is a private, Boston, MA company advancing CNS-focused therapeutics to benefit patients with neurodegenerative diseases.
For more information, please visit www.eippharma.com
