Accera Appoints Jeffrey Cummings and Bruno Vellas to Scientific Advisory Board

BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Accera, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on product development for Alzheimer's disease, today announced the appointment of Jeffrey L. Cummings, M.D., Sc.D. and Bruno Vellas, M.D., Ph.D. to the company's Scientific Advisory Board.

"As we progress toward Phase 3 data from the NOURISH AD study later this year and the initiation of our second Phase 3 study next year, we continue to build upon our existing network and team of leading Alzheimer's experts," said Accera's president and CEO, Dr. Charles Stacey. "Dr. Cummings and Dr. Vellas are both distinguished and experienced Alzheimer's disease researchers, and we are pleased to have them join Dr. Martin Farlow and Dr. Michael Weiner on our scientific advisory board. We look forward to the board's guidance and input as we advance the development of AC-1204 for the treatment Alzheimer's disease."

Dr. Cummings is the director of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, Nevada and Cleveland, Ohio. He is the Camille and Larry Ruvo Chair of the Neurological Institute of Cleveland Clinic and Professor of Medicine (Neurology), Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. Additionally, Dr. Cummings serves as the principal investigator and director of the Center for Neurodegeneration and Translational Neuroscience. Previously, Dr. Cummings was a professor of neurology and psychiatry at UCLA where he was also the director of the Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research and the director of the Deane F. Johnson Center for Neurotherapeutics. Dr. Cummings has authored or edited 39 books and published over 700 peer-reviewed papers.

Dr. Vellas is the chairman of the Toulouse Gerontopole and the chief of the department of internal medicine and geriatrics at the Toulouse University Hospital. Additionally, he is the chief of the Alzheimer's Disease Clinical Research Centre at the University of Toulouse and a member of the INSERM (National Institute of Medical Research) 1027 Unit on Aging. Previously, Dr. Vellas served as president of the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics. Professor Vellas obtained his medical degree and Ph.D. from the University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse. He has over 20 years of experience conduction large clinical trials on Alzheimer's disease and has published over 637 articles in the field of Alzheimer's and disease modifying treatments. He is the founder of the European Alzheimer's Disease Consortium and is the associate editor of the Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease and the Journal of Nutrition Health and Aging.

About the NOURISH AD Phase 3 Clinical Study

NOURISH AD is a 26-week, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study investigating the effects of daily administration of AC-1204 in subjects with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease, with an optional 26-week open-label extension. The primary and key secondary endpoints will examine the effects of AC-1204 on memory and cognition as measured by the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive subscale (ADAS-Cog) and global function as measured by the Alzheimer's Disease Study Cooperative Study – Clinical Global Impression of Change (ADCS-CGIC) after 26 weeks among non-carriers of the epsilon 4 variant of the gene apolipoprotein E (APOE4). The study will also evaluate activities of daily living, resource utilization and quality of life among subjects with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease.

About Accera

Accera, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company based in Boulder, Colo., that is developing therapies for central nervous system disorders. The company's proprietary scientific platform addresses unmet medical needs in brain health, including Alzheimer's disease. Accera is focused on the clinical development of drugs with innovative mechanisms of actions. The company's management team includes globally recognized specialists in central nervous system diseases and drug development, who together leverage the latest scientific knowledge and understanding of neurological disorders. Accera's lead product candidate is AC-1204, a ketosis-inducing compound in a Phase 3 clinical study in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. For more information, visit www.accerapharma.com.

Follow Accera on Twitter at twitter.com/accerainc.

Accera Media Contacts:                                                  

Russo Partners LLC

Todd Davenport, Ph.D.
(212) 845-4235 
[email protected]

David Schull 
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(858) 717-2310 Mobile                                                                                [email protected]            

SOURCE Accera, Inc.

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