J. David Warren, Ph.D., Joins Scientific Advisory Board of Akelos Inc., Biotechnology Company Developing Opioid Alternatives

NEW YORK, April 25, 2019 (Newswire.com) - ​​​​Akelos Inc., a biotechnology company currently developing and commercializing a novel, non-opioid anti-hyperalgesic drug to treat chronic and neuropathic pain, adds J. David Warren, Ph.D., to its Scientific Advisory Board. 

J. David Warren, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Research in Biochemistry at Weill Cornell Medicine and the inaugural Director of the Abby and Howard P. Milstein Chemistry Core Facility. He is also a member of Weill Cornell Medicine’s Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center, where he leads a team of medicinal and analytical chemists. Dr. Warren is a co-founder and Scientific Advisory Board member of Unii Therapeutics. Dr. Warren received undergraduate degrees in Cell and Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from Fort Lewis College, his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Colorado State University and a postdoctoral fellowship in Bioorganic Chemistry at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Dr. Warren participates in all aspects of basic research and R&D at Weill Cornell Medicine. Facility work ranges from total synthesis and modification of natural and unnatural products to chemical library synthesis for SAR development to the scale-up of APIs for clinical and subclinical testing. His team has supplied compounds to diverse research groups within the institution, ranging from sub-milligram quantities to more than 50 grams. The composition of matter for these projects includes lipids, nucleic acids, peptides, polyketides, carbohydrates, heterocycles and other small molecule, drug-like moieties. To date, he has led the filing of seven patent applications, and eight projects have advanced to the stage of animal studies for preclinical evaluation.

Akelos Inc. is in a research collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine to develop and commercialize a novel, non-opioid anti-hyperalgesic drug to treat chronic and neuropathic pain. The pre-clinical laboratory research that gave rise to Akelos Inc.’s underlying technology was enabled through prior support provided by Weill Cornell Medicine’s Daedalus Fund for Innovation, an “accelerator” type program that provides gap funding for select research projects at Weill Cornell Medicine with manifest commercial potential. Weill Cornell Medicine’s Office of BioPharma Alliances and Research Collaborations, which leads the Daedalus Fund for Innovation, catalyzed and negotiated the agreement with Akelos.

Dr. Peter Goldstein, a professor of anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine and a principal investigator in the C.V. Starr Laboratory of Molecular Neuropharmacology at the institution’s Department of Anesthesiology, is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Akelos. He also is a named inventor on patents licensed to Akelos and Cornell University.

“An estimated 20 million people in the United States live with chronic neuropathic pain, for which opioid medication is a common treatment,” said Dr. Steven Fox, chairman of Akelos Inc. “However, the unprecedented opioid epidemic has made it all the more important to develop new medications that relieve pain without the addictive qualities that can lead to dependency. Our collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine researchers, led by Dr. Goldstein, is a critical step to realizing that goal."

Weill Cornell Medicine's Office of BioPharma Alliances and Research Collaborations’ mission is to proactively generate structure and market translational research alliances within the industry in order to advance promising research projects that have commercial potential. For more information, contact Larry Schlossman at [email protected] or at 212-746-6909.

For more information, please contact:

​Akelos Inc.
Dr. Steven Fox, CEO
212-953-1544
[email protected]

About Akelos Inc.

​Akelos Inc. is a biopharmaceutical clinical company focused on the translation of innovative science into treatment. The company currently is developing novel non-narcotic drugs for the treatment of neuropathic pain. The goal of Akelos is to address some of today’s most pressing areas of unmet needs.

Forward-Looking Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s expectations and are subject to certain factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, outcomes of events, timing and performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. These statements include, among others, those related to: the results of research and development activities, uncertainties relating to preclinical and clinical testing, the cost, timing and outcome of the regulatory development and approval process, budgets, expenditures and financing plans, our need for substantial additional funds, patent and intellectual property matters, our dependence on third parties, including contract research and contract clinical trial organizations, and market opportunity and competition.

The information contained in this press release is believed to be current, as of the date of the original issue. Akelos, Inc. expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in our expectations, with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based.

Source: Akelos Inc.