The Board of Directors of Kinex Pharmaceuticals Appoints Dr. David Hangauer as Chief Scientific Officer

BUFFALO, N.Y., May 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Kinex Pharmaceuticals, LLC announced today that Dr. David Hangauer, who served as the Founding Senior Vice President of Research, will be appointed as Chief Scientific Officer of the Company.  

Dr. Johnson Lau, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "David discovered and designed both of our lead compounds, KX01 and KX02. He is the soul of our scientific discovery programs. I have worked together with him for the last 7 years and he is always at his best, both scientifically and from his managing of the scientific team. I am honored that he has accepted the Chief Scientific Officer position and I look forward to working with him to grow Kinex Pharmaceuticals from a scientific perspective."

Dr. Hangauer is a leader in the field of medicinal chemistry.  Following doctoral studies in chemistry at The University at Buffalo, he spent nine years at Merck Sharp and Dohme Research Laboratories where he directed a variety of drug discovery projects and, in addition, was an early pioneer in the area of structure-based drug design.  In 1989, he returned to academia and joined the chemistry faculty at The University at Buffalo where he has had a productive research career that focused initially on developing a new approach to the design of protein kinase inhibitors which led to Mimetica™, the patented technology Kinex Pharmaceuticals licensed from The University at Buffalo and upon which the company was originally based.

Dr. Hangauer's academic research is focused on the energetics of drugs binding to their receptors and has published extensively in this area. He has taught a range of courses to graduate and undergraduate students in medicinal and organic chemistry.  

Dr. Hangauer's expertise has been sought by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide, including Lederle /Wyeth-Ayerst Research Laboratories, New Medical Technologies, Sphinx/Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals Inc., Yuhan Corporation, Periodontix, Inc., ICAgen, Inc., ARPIDA, Scientific Advisory Board & Founding Scientist, Suntory Pharmaceuticals Research Laboratories and Signal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Most notably he led the chemistry effort at Hypnion, Inc., that resulted in the discovery and development of an insomnia drug.  The Company was sold to Eli Lilly in 2009 for more than $300 million and its major asset was the insomnia drug that was designed and discovered under the leadership of Dr. Hangauer.

Dr. Allen Barnett, President Emeritus, states, "David well deserves this recognition. He is indeed the soul of Kinex Pharmaceuticals' discovery programs. I am delighted to have the opportunity to continue supporting David and his scientific programs and I am confident that he is going to make many more major discoveries in the years to come."

Dr. Rudolf Kwan, Chief Medical Officer, states, "David is a great scientist to work with. He can translate complex scientific questions into simple solutions. He also understands the clinical needs and is helping the clinical team to shape the development programs."

Dr. David Hangauer states, "Kinex Pharmaceuticals has evolved nicely, thanks to all of the members of the management team. I am proud to be part of this innovative team and will continue my efforts to assist the Company in discovering more novel therapies for important unmet medical needs.  Kinex will prosper as a business by focusing our efforts on the discovery and development of novel drugs that provide major benefits to patients, and it is this contribution to humanity that provides the most satisfaction for scientists such as me."

About Kinex Pharmaceuticals, LLC

Kinex Pharmaceuticals, headquartered in Buffalo, New York, USA, is using its proprietary technologies Mimetica™ and Opal™ to discover and develop novel drugs for oncology and immune-modulatory diseases.  More information of Kinex Pharmaceuticals can be found at  www.kinexpharma.com

Kinex Pharmaceuticals, LLC – Caution Regarding Forward-looking Information

Under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Kinex Pharmaceuticals cautions investors that any forward-looking statements or projections made by Kinex Pharmaceuticals, including those made in this announcement, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected.

Kinex Inquiries:

Lyn M. Dyster, Ph.D.
VP, Operations
Kinex Pharmaceuticals
New York Center of Excellence
701 Ellicott Street
Buffalo, NY 14203
USA
Tel: 716.898.8626
E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Kinex Pharmaceuticals, LLC