RENOWNED IMMUNOLOGY EXPERTS CHRISTOPHE BENOIST & DIANE MATHIS BOLSTER SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD
Expansion of SAB Brings Promise to Developing Immune Discovery Program
San Diego, CA - March 18, 2003 — The Phenomix Corporation announced today the addition of two distinguished members to its Scientific Advisory Board: Drs. Christophe Benoist and Diane Mathis. In their roles as scientific advisors, Drs. Benoist and Mathis will provide expert guidance for immunological disease research and drug discovery. Drs. Benoist and Mathis, Professors of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, are widely recognized as preeminent scientists and their research explores mechanisms of disorders such as diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. Their work places special emphasis on exploiting the most advanced transgenic and gene-targeting technology as models for human immunological disorders.
"The addition of Drs. Benoist and Mathis as Scientific Advisors adds to our strength in immunology with particular emphasis in inflammatory disease, diabetes and respiratory disorders," said Dr. Chris Goodnow, Chief Scientific Officer of Phenomix and Professor and Director of the Medical Genome Centre at the Australian National University. "They have extensively analyzed a unique mouse model of rheumatoid arthritis that they created and patented while at INSERM and their expertise complements the Phenomix research goals in this area." "Drs. Benoist and Mathis are a tremendous addition to our Board as we move our immunology targets identified from our genetics programs towards discovery," said Laura K. Shawver, Ph.D., President and CEO of Phenomix.
Among their many honors, Dr. Christophe Benoist was recently elected to the French National Academy of Science and Dr. Diane Mathis is a member of the Academia Europaea. Together, they received the Romancon Prize of the Fondation pour la Recherché Medicale and the Fondation Athena Research Prize. In 1983, Drs. Benoist and Mathis together established their world-renowned research laboratories at the Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cell Biology in Strasbourg, France. In 1999, the lab moved to the Joslin Diabetes Center at the Harvard Medical School in Boston.
Company Update
Publication - Phenomix announces today the publication of collaborative research findings on mouse genotyping. The paper, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), presents a snapshot of the collection of polymorphic markers identified in the collaborative efforts amongst Celera, the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF), the National Cancer Institute, Phenomix and Sequenom. The findings demonstrate how recent advances in genomics have enabled the rapid and efficient identification of genotypes from clinically relevant phenotypes, transforming the traditional time scale in forward mouse genetics projects to make it a commercial reality rather than an academic pursuit.
"This paper shows how mouse genotyping has been completely streamlined at Phenomix," said Richard Glynne, Ph.D., Phenomix Vice President of Genetics. "With our database and the out-crossed progenies, we can roughly map the mutation of interest within a few days, then efficiently fine map, and quickly arrive at gene identification."
New Website - Phenomix also simultaneously celebrated it's first year of operation and the launch of a new corporate website, found at www.phenomixcorp.com. Site visitors can learn about the company's technology, management, current programs, and latest company news. The Programs section highlights Phenomix's Immune, Metabolic, CNS and Respiratory areas of research. The Company News section includes current updates, press releases and upcoming presentations.
Expansion and Relocation - Phenomix operations in Australia (Phenomix Australia Pty. Ltd.) have expanded and relocated to a new facility on the campus of the Australian National University. The move into the new operations and research facility more than triples the previous office and laboratory space. The new facility provides capacity to fully support internal discovery programs as well as collaborations with partners who have interest in the advance of Phenomix technology.
Promotion - The Company also announces the promotion of Dr. Richard J. Glynne to Vice President of Genetics.
About Phenomix
Phenomix was founded by three of the world's premier forward genetics programs contributing an exclusive commercial license to much of their relevant technology: the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) in San Diego, the Medical Genome Centre of the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, Australia, and the Department of Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.
Phenomix uses in vivo physiology coupled with powerful genetics techniques to accelerate biomedical discovery. Using related technology platforms, Phenomix provides new and relevant models of human disease. These are used in pharmacological testing, in prioritization of existing drug targets and in uncovering new therapeutic strategies. Phenomix's corporate headquarters are in San Diego with additional operations in Canberra, Australia. For more information, visit www.phenomixcorp.com.
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