Frederic Chereau, President and CEO of Pervasis Therapeutics Honored as a Recipient of Mass High Tech's 2010 All-Stars Awards

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Pervasis Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that Frederic Chereau, president and chief executive officer of the company, is among the recipients of Mass High Tech's 2010 All-Stars Awards, which recognize 16 dynamic and influential leaders of New England's innovation economy.

Pervasis is a clinical stage company focused on developing breakthrough therapies with the potential to improve outcomes following common vascular surgical and interventional procedures, such as arteriovenous access, angioplasties, stents and peripheral and coronary bypass grafts—the failure of which result in serious complications and a significant increase in medical costs. There are no currently approved therapies that directly target the underlying physiological processes leading to serious vascular complications, including inflammation, thrombosis (the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel) and restenosis (the re-narrowing of a coronary artery after it has been treated with angioplasty or stenting).

"I am honored to be selected as a recipient of this award, particularly in the company of such notable leaders in the high tech and life sciences industries," said Mr. Chereau. "At Pervasis, we are proud to be a part of this region's continued excellence in innovation. We strongly believe that our product candidates offer fundamentally new approaches to treating vascular diseases which impact millions of people. We look forward to continuing to research these important therapies for vascular disease and other therapeutic areas, and to contributing to New England's rich life sciences heritage."  

Pervasis' therapies harness the power of the endothelium, the thin layer of cells that lines the interior surface of blood vessels, which has a well-understood role in regulating many of the body's healing processes, including vascular repair. The company's lead development programs are focused on two areas of intense need: improving arteriovenous access procedures for hemodialysis patients, and reducing the longer-term problems that limit the success of angioplasty or stent implants for patient with peripheral arterial disease (PAD), a serious condition affecting more than eight million Americans over the age of 50.

A Phase I/II study is currently underway in France to evaluate PVS-10200, an investigational new drug under development by Pervasis to prevent restenosis in patients with PAD who undergo an angioplasty and stent procedure in the superficial femoral artery. The company's most advanced program, Vascugel®, has demonstrated proof of concept and safety in two Phase 2 trials in patients undergoing arteriovenous access procedures for hemodialysis.  

Mr. Chereau has been president and chief executive officer at Pervasis since September 2008. Prior to Pervasis, Mr. Chereau was the Vice President and General Manager of Genzyme Cardiovascular, a business unit of Genzyme Corporation. In addition, Mr. Chereau served as chief operating officer of MG Biotherapeutics LLC, a Genzyme and Medtronic joint-venture formed to develop cellular therapies for cardiac repair. In addition to Pervasis, Mr. Chereau also serves as a member of the board of directors of the French-American Chamber of Commerce New England Chapter (FACCNE).

The 2010 Mass High Tech All-Stars honorees represent a broad range of technology and service sectors, including robotics, mobile technology, hardware, health care, Internet and biotech. They were selected from more than 200 nominees recommended by the technology community. Mr. Chereau and the other honorees are profiled in a special edition of Mass High Tech that was issued yesterday, and will be recognized at an awards celebration this evening at the Intercontinental Hotel in Boston. More information about the event is available at http://masshightech.bizjournals.com/masshightech/event/26971.

About Pervasis

Pervasis Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical stage company developing a broad portfolio of biologically active therapeutics. Building on its deep understanding of the specialized role that endothelium plays in regulating natural healing and repair processes associated with disease, Pervasis is advancing groundbreaking new therapies to dramatically improve the outcomes of common vascular interventions, such as arteriovenous access, angioplasties, stents, and peripheral and coronary bypass grafts – the failure of which result in serious complications and a significant increase in medical costs. The company's most advanced program, Vascugel®, has demonstrated proof of concept and safety in two Phase 2 trials in patients undergoing arteriovenous access procedures for hemodialysis. Pervasis is also applying its platform technology to develop products in therapeutic areas beyond vascular disease, such as inflammatory and orthopedic diseases.

Pervasis is a privately held company with funding from Flagship Ventures, Polaris Venture Partners, Highland Capital Partners and the Richter Family Fund. For more information, please visit www.pervasistx.com.  

Company Contact: Margaret O'Toole with Pervasis Therapeutics, Inc., +1-617-871-1201, [email protected]

Media Contact: Liz Falcone, Feinstein Kean Healthcare, +1-617-256-6622, [email protected]

SOURCE Pervasis Therapeutics, Inc.