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Inotek Focuses Resources on Clinical Programs,
Adds to Executive Management Team and Consolidates Operations
in Massachusetts
BEVERLY, Mass.
April 8, 2008
Inotek
announced today that the Company has focused its resources on
the development of its two main clinical programs and the advancement
of its two preclinical programs, including the partnering of
its monoclonal antibody program. The Company has consolidated its
operations
and concentrated its workforce at the Company's corporate offices
in Massachusetts. The consolidation also includes the closing
of several international offices and the sale of the Company's
pilot
manufacturing plant in Dimona, Israel.
Inotek has entered Phase
1 clinical safety trials with INO-4885 which has potential application
in various acute, peroxynitrite-mediated
hospital conditions and has filed an Investigational New Drug
application (IND) for its selective Adenosine 1 agonist, INO- 8875
that is being
developed for the treatment and management of Glaucoma. Inotek
also has a monoclonal antibody program in preclinical development,
targeting
the flagellin/TLR5 pathway associated with inflammatory bowel
disease (IBD) and a series of preclinical PARP inhibitors with applications
in cancer, ophthalmology and various diseases involving reperfusion
injury.
To best execute on the Company's development plans,
Inotek has made significant changes and additions to the Company's
Executive
Management Team in the Massachusetts office as follows:
Dr. Michael
Loberg, Inotek Board Member since 2004, has been appointed acting
President and CEO
Dr. Rudolf Baumgartner, former VP of Clinical
Research at Sepracor, has been hired as Chief Medical Officer
Dr. William McVicar, former VP of Product Development
at Sepracor, has been hired as Executive Vice President of Pharmaceutical
Development
Mr. James Ham, former Chief Financial Officer
at NitroMed, has been hired as Chief Financial Officer
Dr. Andrew Salzman has resigned as CEO in order
to relocate to Israel and build his professional future in the Israeli
biotechnology industry. He leaves behind a long record
of scientific and corporate
accomplishment. We appreciate his many contributions to
the Company over the years and wish him every success
in his future
endeavors.
The Company also announced that its collaboration with Genentech
related to the discovery and development of PARP inhibitors will
end in April. Inotek will obtain rights to all assets and information
related to the PARP inhibitor program from Genentech, including
all compounds and intellectual property that were discovered or
developed by either Inotek or Genentech within the collaboration.
Inotek intends to continue to evaluate the broad potential of its
PARP inhibitor program including its promising series of oral and
I.V. next generation PARP inhibitors and to establish development
priorities for oncology and non-oncology indications once the technology
transfer from Genentech is completed.
About Inotek Pharmaceuticals
Inotek is a clinical stage drug development company located in Beverly,
Massachusetts with two clinical stage programs targeting applications
in glaucoma and various acute oxidant-mediated diseases. The Company's
two preclinical programs target Flagellin, with potential application
in Crohn's Disease and gram negative infections, and PARP, with
applications in a diverse array of indications, including ophthalmology,
oncology and various diseases involving reperfusion injury.
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