Aridis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Appoints Alan H. Cohen, MD, as Senior Vice President of Clinical & Medical Affairs

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Aridis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company applying proprietary technologies to produce novel anti-infectives and immunotherapies for infectious diseases, today announced the appointment of Alan H. Cohen, MD, FAAP, FCCP, FAAAAI, FACAAI, as Senior Vice President of Clinical & Medical Affairs. Dr. Cohen has served as a Medical Consultant and Advisor to Aridis for more than 10 years, leveraging his extensive industry experience in clinical development and product planning.

"Dr. Cohen's expertise has been invaluable over the last ten years as we have advanced our multiple monoclonal antibody product candidates through Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials, and we are excited to bring him into this new full-time role," stated Paul-André de Lame, M.D., Chief Medical Officer for Aridis Pharmaceuticals. "Dr. Cohen's many years of experience leading clinical development programs will be critical as we continue to advance our lead candidates combating life-threatening infectious diseases through late-stage clinical development and potential FDA approval."

Dr. Cohen stated, "I look forward to helping shepherd Aridis Pharmaceuticals' lead pipeline candidates through pivotal clinical trials on the Aerucin and AR-301 mAb programs. This is an exciting time for the Company, as we advance multiple potential life-saving therapies. I am confident I can move these programs forward as efficiently and expeditiously as possible, which are desperately needed in this time of rising antibacterial-resistant pathogens."

Dr. Alan Cohen is a board-certified pediatric pulmonologist with more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, abstracts, platform presentations and book chapters in his areas of expertise, including pulmonary disorders such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), cystic fibrosis (CF), premature lung disease, asthma, lung transplantation as well as respiratory infectious diseases – including bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens.  He also has extensive industry experience in clinical development and product planning. He was most recently Senior Vice President & Chief Medical Officer of Therabron Therapeutics, a biotech company focused on secretoglobin biology in respiratory disorders. Previously, he was Chief Medical Officer at Eddingpharm, a China-based global biopharmaceutical company supporting over 15 therapeutics in addition to being responsible for all global clinical development programs in Oncology and Cardiopulmonary conditions. He served as Executive Director of Clinical Development & Medical Affairs at Boehringer Ingelheim, focusing on respiratory drug development in IPF, COPD and asthma. Prior to that Alan was SVP of Medical Affairs at InterMune (before being acquired by Genentech / Roche), as well as VP of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs at MAP Pharmaceuticals where he oversaw respiratory clinical development and new product planning. MAP was eventually acquired by Allergan. Dr. Cohen was Chief Medical Officer, and VP of Global Medical Affairs, Safety and Pharmacovigilance at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, supporting orphan drugs for sleep medicine, inborn errors of metabolism, toxicology and CNS disorders. He started his drug development career in biotechnology as Senior Director of Medical Affairs at Medimmune (acquired by Astra Zeneca) – where he was involved in the development and support of monoclonal antibodies and flu vaccines for respiratory illnesses in both adults and children.

Dr. Cohen served as adjunct faculty at Stanford University School of Medicine, Dept. of Pediatric Pulmonology from 2001 to 2017, where he cared for patients, taught residents, supervised medical students and fellows in both allergy and pulmonary medicine. He has held faculty appointments at a number of prestigious centers of learning and healthcare including most recently, Stanford University, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine – where he was the co-director of the largest Pediatric Pulmonary Lung Transplant program in North America, as well as the University of Colorado / National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Diseases – where he successfully completed his residency and fellowship.

About Aridis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Aridis is a privately held biopharmaceutical company applying proprietary monoclonal antibody discovery technology MabIgX^® to produce novel infectious disease focused therapies.  Aridis' product pipeline includes AR-101 (or 'Aerumab^™') anti-Pseudomonas aeruginosa LPS human monoclonal antibody; AR-301 (or 'Salvecin^®') anti-Staphylococcus aureus human monoclonal antibody to treat acute pneumonia; Aerucin^®, a broadly reactive monoclonal antibody against Pseudomonas aeruginosa initially being developed to treat acute pneumonia; Panaecin^™, a small molecule anti-infective gallium compound with broad spectrum activities against bacteria, viruses, and fungi; AR- 401 anti-Acinetobacter baumannii human monoclonal antibody; and AR-201 anti-RSV human monoclonal antibody.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties.  Such forward-looking statements include statements relating to the therapeutic applications of AR-101, AR-301 (Salvecin^®), Aerucin^®, Panaecin^™, AR-401, AR-201, Aridis' proprietary formulation and delivery technologies, about Aridis' strategy, pre-clinical and clinical programs, and ability to identify and develop drugs, as well as other statements that are not historical facts. Actual events or results may differ materially from Aridis' expectations. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the timing, success and cost of Aridis' research and clinical studies and its ability to obtain additional financing.  These forward-looking statements represent Aridis' judgment as of the date of this release. Aridis disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Contacts:

Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc.
Joshua E. Drumm, Ph.D. (investors and media)
[email protected]   
(212) 375-2664

SOURCE Aridis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.aridispharma.com