PITTSBURGH,
Jan. 4, 2019
/PRNewswire/ -- LifeX™ today announced that its
portfolio company NeuBase Therapeutics, Inc. has entered into a
definitive merger agreement with Ohr Pharmaceutical, Inc. (Nasdaq:
OHRP) and that Dietrich A. Stephan,
Ph.D., the former chief executive officer of LifeX, will lead the
combined company as its CEO. In less than a year, NeuBase has gone
from an idea to a company with a clear path to a NASDAQ list,
validating the LifeX approach of quickly translating technology
from the bench to the bedside.
The proposed merger will create a public company focused
on advancing NeuBase's peptide-nucleic acid (PNA) antisense
oligonucleotide (PATrOL™) technology platform for the development
of therapies to address severe and currently untreatable diseases
caused by genetic mutations.
"LifeX provides expertise and resources that will help
entrepreneurs translate life sciences innovation into the
marketplace, creating solutions for large unmet health needs," said
Rob A. Rutenbar, Ph.D, senior vice
chancellor for research at the University of
Pittsburgh. "This merger to create NeuBase Therapeutics,
Inc. is exciting, tangible proof of the success of the LifeX
initiative, and we are thrilled that Dietrich will be at the helm
to advance this groundbreaking work."
Dr. Stephan's previous role as CEO of LifeX will be
assumed by Evan Facher, Ph.D.,
Pitt's vice chancellor for innovation
and entrepreneurship and director of the Innovation Institute. Dr.
Facher will serve in an interim capacity while a national search
for a permanent CEO gets underway.
"The LifeX Labs portfolio companies are tackling some of
the largest unmet needs in global health," said Dr. Facher, whose
20-year career includes corporate fundraising, merger and
acquisition leadership, and various management roles in both drug
and device companies. "I'm excited to take on this
additional role as interim CEO and continue to work with innovative
companies pursuing translational work."
The LifeX Board of Directors will now be chaired by Dr.
Rutenbar, who is an original director, along with Diego Miralles, M.D., the CEO of Vivideon
Therapeutics. They will be joined by Steven
Reis, M.D., associate vice chancellor for clinical research,
health sciences, who brings a wealth of translational experience to
the board. Dr. Reis is the director of Pitt's Clinical and Translational Science Institute
(CTSI), which supports biomedical discovery and the translation of
advances in the lab to clinical practice.
About LifeX
LifeX Labs is a
startup accelerator that helps entrepreneurs develop their
technology. At LifeX we believe the biggest investment
opportunity is creating novel types of solutions that result from
the convergence of different silos of expertise and address global
unmet health needs. LifeX takes an active and engaged approach to
venture funding to ensure entrepreneurs get the guidance, resources
and support needed to tackle these prevalent, notoriously
intractable and horrific diseases. For more information, please
visit: www.lifexventures.com.
Media Contact:
Wes
Conard
wconard@lifexventures.com
(412) 228-7282
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SOURCE LifeX