RXi Pharmaceuticals Appoints Peter Campochiaro M.D. to its Scientific Advisory Board

MARLBOROUGH, Mass., July 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NASDAQ: RXII), a biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing innovative therapies addressing major unmet medical needs using RNA-targeted technologies, today announced the appointment of Dr. Peter Campochiaro to its Scientific Advisory Board. Campochiaro is the George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Professor of Ophthalmology and Neuroscience in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is a prominent researcher, clinician and educator in the field of ophthalmology. He sees patients at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins.

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With more than 300 articles published in peer-reviewed medical journals, Dr. Campochiaro is a clinician-scientist who does both laboratory and clinical research.  His major laboratory interest is in elucidating the molecular pathogenesis of ocular neovascularization and excessive vascular leakage.  He has generated many animal models of retinal and choroidal vascular diseases that have been useful for evaluating drug and gene-based therapies. His laboratory helped to demonstrate the importance of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in retinal and choroidal vascular diseases and his clinical trial group performed many of the early phase studies evaluating VEGF antagonists.  He serves on Scientific Advisory Board of several pharmaceutical companies.  

"We are honored to have Dr. Campochiaro join our Scientific Advisory Board," said Dr. Pamela Pavco, Chief Development Officer of RXi Pharmaceuticals. "He brings a wealth of clinical research experience in ophthalmology to the Company that we will leverage to advance our ophthalmology program." 

About RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation

RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NASDAQ: RXII) is a biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing innovative therapies based on its proprietary, self-delivering RNAi (sd-rxRNA®) platform. Therapeutics that use RNA interference, or "RNAi," have great promise because of their ability to down-regulate the expression of specific genes that may be over-expressed in disease conditions. Building on the pioneering work of scientific founder and Nobel Laureate Dr. Craig Mello, a member of the RXi Scientific Advisory Board, RXi's first RNAi product candidate, RXI‑109, entered into human clinical trials in June 2012 and is currently being evaluated in Phase 2 clinical trials to reduce dermal scarring (fibrosis).  RXI‑109 targets connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), which may also be key in the development of retinal scarring. RXi's sd‑rxRNA oligonucleotides are designed for therapeutic use and have drug-like properties, such as high potency, target specificity, serum stability, reduced immune response activation, and efficient cellular uptake. These hybrid oligonucleotide molecules combine the beneficial properties of conventional RNAi and antisense technologies.  This allows sd‑rxRNAs to achieve efficient cellular uptake and potent, long-lasting intracellular activity. For more information, please visit www.rxipharma.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements about future expectations, planned and future development of RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation's products and technologies. Forward-looking statements about expectations and development plans of RXi's products involve significant risks and uncertainties:  the risk that we may not be able to successfully develop our candidates, or that development of RNAi-based therapeutics may be delayed or not proceed as planned, or that we may not develop any RNAi-based products; risks that the development process for our product candidates may be delayed, risks related to the development and commercialization of products by our competitors, the risk related to our ability to control the timing and terms of collaborations with third parties, and the possibility that other companies or organizations may assert patent rights preventing us from developing our products. Actual results may differ from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements. RXi does not undertake to update forward-looking statements to reflect a change in its views, events or circumstances that occur after the date of this release.

Contact
RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation
Tamara McGrillen
508-929-3646
[email protected]

SOURCE RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation