Find Therapeutics announces the formation of its clinical advisory board

MONTREAL, Nov. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Find Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of innovative therapies for autoimmune diseases, today announced the formation of a clinical advisory board to support its lead program, FTX-101, a novel remyelinating agent.

The clinical advisory board will guide the company in the development of its autoimmune programs in demyelinating diseases such as optic neuritis, and multiple sclerosis (MS).

"We are honored to work with such an esteemed group of highly accomplished clinicians and researchers," said Philippe Douville, Chief Executive Officer of Find Therapeutics. "Their deep knowledge of complex underlying disease processes and their understanding of patient needs will be instrumental as we advance our autoimmune programs.  With the formation of our clinical advisory board, we have positioned ourselves to benefit from strategic insights from world leaders in demyelinating diseases."

"Similar to other members of Find's Clinical Advisory Board, I have dedicated my career to uncovering new notions of demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis and optic neuritis. I welcome the opportunity to collaborate with the talented Clinical Advisory Board team working with Find to translate these exciting discoveries into new treatments for patients," said Dr. Mark Freedman.

The members of the clinical advisory board include:

• Douglas Arnold, MD – Dr. Douglas Arnold is a world leading expert and key opinion leader in neuroimaging. He is a Professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill University, Director of the Magnetic Resonance Studies lab in the Brain Imaging Center at the Montreal Neurological Institute, and President of NeuroRx Research, a CNS imaging CRO dedicated to drug development for MS. He has special expertise in myelin-sensitive imaging and other advanced MRI acquisition and analysis techniques, particularly as they relate to understanding the evolution of multiple sclerosis and its response to drug therapy.
• Jeffrey Cohen, MD – Dr. Jeffrey Cohen is an internationally recognized expert in multiple sclerosis and is Professor of Neurology in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and holds the Hazel Prior Hostetler Endowed Chair. He received a BA from Connecticut College in 1976 and MD from the University of Chicago School of Medicine in 1980. He completed a Neurology Residency in 1984 then a Post-doctoral Research Fellowship in Neuroimmunology in 1987, both at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Cohen has worked at Cleveland Clinic's Mellen Center for MS since 1994 and was Director 2014-2017. He currently is Director of the Experimental Therapeutics Program and the Clinical Neuroimmunology Fellowship.
  Dr. Cohen has published extensively on clinical, immunologic, imaging, and therapeutic aspects of MS. He has had a leadership role in a large number of clinical trials of potential therapies for MS, translational studies, studies to validate outcome measures, and observational studies. He recently served as Chair of the International Advisory Committee on Clinical Trials in MS and Co-Chair of the International Panel on Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis which developed the 2017 McDonald Diagnostic Criteria. He was President of ACTRIMS 2019-2022.
• Jérôme De Sèze, MD, PhD – Professor Jérôme De Sèze is a world leader in neurology and professor in neurology and head of the neuroimmunological department at the University Hospital of Strasbourg, France. He has a PhD in immunology and is a specialist in multiple sclerosis and neuro-ophthalmology as well as head of the clinical investigation centre at the same University where he oversees phase I to III trials predominantly in the field of neurology. 
  Professor de Sèze's research interests include biopathology of myelin, imaging of animal models for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system and evaluation of new therapeutic targets in these animal models.
  In 2007, Professor de Sèze founded the "alSacEP", a network to improve the provision of MS care in the French region of Alsace. He is the Past President of the French Multiple Sclerosis society.
• Mark S. Freedman, MD – Dr. Mark Freedman is an internationally recognized neurologist and key opinion leader. He is Professor of Medicine (Neurology) at the University of Ottawa, Senior Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Research Unit at the Ottawa Hospital-General Campus.
  Dr. Freedman conducts extensive research in molecular neurochemistry, cellular immunology, and clinical studies in MS. His basic science interest concerns immune mechanisms of damage in MS, with a particular interest in the role of the innate immune system such as gamma-delta T-cells. His main clinical interests are cell-based therapies for MS. He was the lead investigator of the Canadian Bone Marrow Transplant Study in MS and he co-headed an international study of mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of MS. He is the current President of ACTRIMS. 
• Maria Pia Sormani, PhD – Dr. Sormani is a leading expert in statistics for clinical trials in demyelinating diseases. She is Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Genoa, Italy. She received her Masters in Medical Biostatistics at the University of Milan, her Master in Medical Physics at the University of Pisa, and her PhD degree in Bio-Physics at the University of Genoa in Italy. She has a background in Oncology, but her main field of Research is in Multiple Sclerosis. She collaborated for more than ten years with the Neuroimaging Research Unit at the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, studying the methodological issues related to the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Multiple Sclerosis. She is now faculty member at the University of Genoa, where she teaches Biostatistics and Research Methods to students in medicine.
  She serves on the US Multiple Sclerosis National Society Clinical Trials Advisory Committee, in the Multiple Sclerosis Outcome Assessment Consortium (MSOAC), is on the Editorial Board of Multiple Sclerosis Journal and has published more than 470 papers in peer reviewed journals, mostly on MS.

Find Therapeutics also announced the launch of its new website to reflect the company's dedication to bringing hope to people suffering from autoimmune diseases.  Find's website can be found at https://www.findtherapeutics.com/.

Find Therapeutics is dedicated to the development of next generation therapies to treat inflammatory autoimmune diseases.  The company was launched in 2020 with investments from CTI Life Sciences, adMare BioInnovations, Domain Therapeutics, and GPCR technology and know-how from Peptimimesis Pharma.  https://www.findtherapeutics.com

SOURCE Find Therapeutics