Profil Institute Appoints Drs. John Amatruda and Jerrold Olefsky to Board of Directors

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Profil^® Institute for Clinical Research, Inc., a company focused on early phase clinical trials for diabetes and obesity, announced today the appointment of Dr. John Amatruda, a pharmaceutical research executive, and Dr. Jerrold Olefsky, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego, to its Board of Directors.

"Drs. Amatruda and Olefsky are prominent and highly respected leaders both in the global bio-pharmaceutical industry and the academic research community," said Profil Institute CEO Dr. Marcus Hompesch. "We are very pleased to have them join Profil Institute's Board of Directors where their strategic perspective will support the growth of the company while also making an immediate impact on our business initiatives."

"Profil Institute is one of the most highly regarded and innovative companies doing clinical research for cardiometabolic diseases. It is an honor to join the board," said Dr. Amatruda.

"Profil Institute is a virtual brain trust of scientific knowledge and expertise in cardiometabolic disorders and early phase clinical research. I'm very pleased to join the board at this opportune time of exciting growth for the company," said Dr. Olefsky.

Dr. John Amatruda is a pharmaceutical research executive and former Senior Vice President and Franchise Head for Diabetes and Obesity at Merck Research Laboratories. Under Dr. Amatruda's leadership, the development program and regulatory approvals of Januvia and Janumet, the first compounds in the important class of DPP-IV inhibitors for Type 2 diabetes, were initiated and completed. He was also a member of the Research Management Committee, Head of Development for Atherosclerosis and Metabolic Diseases and acting Head for of Development for Cardiovascular Disease while at Merck. More recently, Dr. Amatruda was on the Scientific Advisory Board of Marcadia Biotech Inc., a preclinical stage Type 2 diabetes and obesity company that was acquired by Roche Holding Ltd. in 2010.

In addition to his tenure at Merck, Dr. Amatruda started and ran a drug discovery group at Bayer Corp where he served as Vice President and Therapeutic Area Research Head for Metabolic Disorders research. He is board certified in internal medicine, endocrinology and metabolism and has a proven track record in academics and pharmaceutical discovery research and development, including several novel candidate compounds, Investigational New Drugs (INDs), translational studies, development programs and four New Drug Applications (NDAs).

Dr. Jerrold Olefsky is a distinguished professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism and the associate dean of scientific affairs for the UCSD School of Medicine. In addition, Dr. Olefsky is the founder of Metabolex, Inc. One of his seminal contributions to the field of medicine has been the identification of the role of insulin resistance as a primary cause of type 2 (non-insulin dependent, adult-onset) diabetes, polycystic ovarian syndrome and other human diseases.

His work has also helped develop insulin sensitizing drugs that are now standard therapies for type 2 diabetes. For more than 30 years, Dr. Olefsky's research has focused on basic research studies examining the molecular mechanisms of insulin and growth factor action in a variety of cell types, with particular emphasis on the insulin signaling pathway leading to stimulation of glucose transport. Dr. Olefsky was the 1998 recipient of the American Diabetes Association's prestigious Banting Medal for scientific achievement.

About Profil^® Institute for Clinical Research, Inc.

Profil Institute's advances in early phase drug research and its specific focus on diabetes, obesity and cardiometabolic diseases as it relates to the diabetic patient population have led Profil Institute to be the most highly regarded clinical research institute for early phase diabetes drug trials. 

To date, Profil Institute has been involved with almost every clinically promising drug category and device development in diabetes and in more than 175 clinical studies since the company's inception in 2004. Contributing to Profil Institute's success is that the company is recognized as the leader in automated glucose clamps, considered the "Gold Standard" for the evaluation of anti-diabetic drugs and devices.  The company's key scientists hail from academic centers including the WHO Collaborating Center of Diabetes at the Heinrich-Heine University of Dusseldorf, Columbia University, University of Michigan and Harvard University. For more information visit www.profilinstitute.com.

SOURCE Profil Institute for Clinical Research, Inc.