RE:RE:RE:RE:Dr. Kjetil Ask"It's possible that Dr. Ask was planning to leave and Dr. Kolb was added to the team for the transition. As such, his departure is not a "blow" to the research and not considered a material event to the company so that a NR was not required."
The basic research appears essentially complete for PGX-fibrosis. Dr. Ask's students also perform key work and can continue. Dr. Ask will likely provide any additional insight as needed during the transition. The current McMaster study is to pave the way for clinical trials CZO's news release stated. Trial design and a Phase I were targeted next in CZO's presentation. Dr. Kolb has clinical expertise and Dr. Ask doesn't. Dr. Kolb has been the Principal Investigator for numerous clinical trials and on various Steering Committees. Dr. Kolb is also more published than Dr. Ask. with 253 search results on PubMed vs. Dr. Ask's 131. Dr. Kolb is actually a promotion at McMaster for PGX as it is expected to move to clinical testing:
Dr. Kolb is Division Director. Boehringer Inglheim owns multi-billion dollar Nintedanib:
Director, Division of Respirology
Jack Gauldie Boehringer Ingelheim Chair in Interstitial Lung Disease; Moran Campbell Chair in Respiratory Medicine; Research Director, Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health
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Here's Dr. Ask and Dr. Kolb in Avalyn Pharma's news release. CZO could get something similar soon. Dr. Kolb was the one quoted: Genoa Pharmaceuticals and McMaster University demonstrate inhaled pharmacokinetics enables improved pirfenidone activity with significant promise to enhance IPF treatment safety and tolerability
San Diego, CA – April 21, 2014 – Genoa Pharmaceuticals, the leader in inhaled medicines for pulmonary fibrosis, and collaborators Drs. Martin Kolb and Kjetil Ask at McMaster University announced today additional measured advantages of inhaled GP-101 (aerosol pirfenidone) in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Our results indicate that very small inhaled doses deliver oral-superior, but short-lived lung levels. To understand if this increased lung dose may improve IPF efficacy, we further demonstrated that only short-lived lung levels are required for maximum pirfenidone activity. Moreover, because these inhaled doses are small, it is anticipated that oral-observed side effects will be substantially reduced. In addition to these observations, characterization of the pirfenidone mechanism suggests that the drug inhibits a single, upstream pro-fibrotic target with strong influence on downstream pathways critical for IPF initiation and disease progression (manuscript in preparation).
"These results further support inhalation as the optimal method to administer pirfenidone to achieve maximum IPF efficacy in a safe and well-tolerated medicine," said Mark Surber, Ph.D., Genoa’s President and Chief Executive Officer. "In addition to laying the foundation for successful GP-101 clinical design, these collaborative studies have also expanded our understanding of IPF disease progression and identified a family of additional therapeutic targets."
"Discovery that pirfenidone may inhibit a particular IPF target shown to influence several downstream pathways is important for it may explain some of pirfenidone’s effect; showing that inhalation enables improved activity against this important target further justifies this therapeutic approach," said Dr. Martin Kolb, M.D., Ph.D. & Associate Professor in the Division of Respirology, within the Department of Medicine Pathology & Molecular Medicine at McMaster University. "We are excited to continue our productive collaboration with Genoa, and with these results enter these activities with an increased enthusiasm for GP-101’s potential to positively impact the lives of people with this devastating disease."