HemoShear Expands Scientific Leadership Team

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Jan. 31 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- HemoShear LLC, a biotechnology research company and leading developer of human and animal cell-based surrogate systems for discovery and assessment of new drug compounds, announced today the appointment of Robert A. Figler, Ph.D., as scientific director. 

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Prior to joining HemoShear, Dr. Figler was director of pharmacology at Adenosine Therapeutics and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Physiology & Biological Physics at the University of Virginia (UVA).  Dr. Figler brings extensive experience with animal models and in-vitro assays used in drug development to HemoShear.  He is a successful and well-published scientist who is a named inventor on seven patents for adenosine analogs, several of which are in human clinical trials.  Dr. Figler has a MS in Zoology from Texas A&M University and a Ph.D. in Molecular Physiology from UVA. 

As scientific director, Dr. Figler's primary responsibility will be to lead HemoShear's NIH-funded research efforts to develop an extensive database of drug-induced vascular genomic response profiles using the company's proprietary human-surrogate vascular system.

"HemoShear's business is growing and our needs for additional scientific and operational expertise are increasing," said Jim Powers, HemoShear's chief executive officer.  "As our pipeline of activities continues to expand into new disease indications and therapeutic opportunities, we need to increase the depth and breadth of our in-house scientific team and are very pleased to be able to attract talent with the extensive academic and industry experience of Dr. Figler."

About HemoShear, LLC

HemoShear LLC is a biotechnology research company that combines its scientific expertise with its proprietary platform technology in research collaborations with pharmaceutical companies to accelerate drug discovery and development. HemoShear has expertise in the areas of human and animal biology, bioinformatics and molecular profiling for target identification and validation, cell-signaling pathway analysis, sophisticated methods to quantify target genes and proteins, assessment of molecular pharmacology, and methods to determine mechanisms of action for drug efficacy and safety.

HemoShear's technology platform can be adapted to replicate the biology of human or animal organ systems in both healthy and disease-prone states by applying physiologically accurate hemodynamic forces to primary cell cultures.  HemoShear is currently collaborating with several large pharmaceutical companies on programs that span the drug discovery and development spectrum.  HemoShear is a privately held company located in Charlottesville, Virginia.  To learn more about HemoShear and our research, please visit our website at www.hemoshear.com.

SOURCE HemoShear LLC