SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Aug. 6 iPierian, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on changing the paradigm of drug discovery and development through the application of cellular reprogramming, today announced the appointments of Dr. Chad Cowan and Dr. Konrad Hochedlinger to the company's Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).
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"Drs. Cowan and Hochedlinger are leading scientists in stem cell research and their addition to the iPierian SAB rounds out an exemplary group of scientists. The collective expertise of this SAB will further our efforts of developing disease-relevant models to discover drugs, and translating these efforts into new therapies for patients," said John P. Walker, chief executive officer of iPierian.
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Dr. Chad Cowan is assistant professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, and assistant investigator at Stowers Medical Institute. His research focuses on adipogenesis, metabolic disease, and the impact of environmental and genetic factors on the development of disease.
Dr. Konrad Hochedlinger is assistant professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, principal faculty member at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and investigator at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Center for Regenerative Medicine. Dr. Hochedlinger is a leader in reprogramming technology and produced the first transgene-free induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. Most recently, Dr. Hochedlinger received the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Outstanding Young Investigator Award.
About iPierian
iPierian is a South San Francisco-based biopharmaceutical company focused on the industrialization of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS) technology with the mission of creating new therapeutics through cellular reprogramming and directed differentiation of patient cells. iPierian is backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Highland Capital Partners, MPM Capital and FinTech Global Capital. The initial focus of the company is in neurodegeneration, particularly spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson's disease as well as in cardiovascular disease, where iPierian has a collaboration with The Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease and Dr. Deepak Srivastava, the institute's director. iPierian plans to enhance its partnership efforts to further expand into metabolic diseases. Earlier this year, the company announced a formal collaboration with the laboratory of Dr. Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University to develop and improve methods of deriving iPS cell lines in order to advance iPS cell technology.
Because iPS cells are believed to be able to grow indefinitely in culture and to differentiate into many cell types, iPS cells have great potential for disease research, preclinical drug testing and cell-based therapy. iPierian's approach places the patient at the forefront of the drug discovery process in order to reduce drug development time and increase the probability of success for drug candidates. iPierian plans to use precise human disease models to find new molecular targets and develop proprietary therapeutic small molecule or biologic drugs for its own pipeline to treat specific diseases.
SOURCE iPierian, Inc.
