- Neurologists/epileptologists Dr. Imad Najm of the Cleveland Clinic Neurological Institute and the Cleveland Clinic Epilepsy Center, and Dr. Raman Sankar, the Emeritus Chief of Pediatric Neurology at UCLA Health, appointed to Ovid’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB)
- Neuroscientists Dr. Jamie Maguire of Tufts University and Dr. Jeff Noebels of Baylor College of Medicine, appointed to the SAB to contribute expertise in neurophysiology, hyperexcitability and network effects
- The SAB will advise on the potential application of Ovid’s compounds to broader disorders in which they may offer therapeutic promise, including brain conditions caused by hyperexcitability, neurovascular and neuro-inflammatory dysfunction
NEW YORK, July 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ovid Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: OVID), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the lives of people affected by rare epilepsies and brain conditions, announced it has significantly expanded its SAB with the appointment of renowned neurologists, neuroscientists, and epileptologists. The new SAB members were appointed to advise Ovid on the potential application of its unique pipeline programs and mechanisms of action to broader areas of neurology in which they may offer therapeutic promise. Specifically, advancements over the last year in Ovid’s Rho associated coiled-coil containing protein kinase 2 (ROCK2) inhibitor and potassium chloride co-transporter 2 (KCC2) direct activator libraries suggest that these mechanisms may have a fundamental role in modifying intractable disorders of the brain, including conditions caused by hyperexcitability, neurovascular dysfunction and neuroinflammation.
The SAB is chaired by Professor Robert Langer, who convened the first meeting of the expanded SAB at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in July 2024. Initial areas of focus for the SAB are the translation and clinical development strategies associated with the ROCK2 inhibition and KCC2 direct activator portfolio, which contain multiple compounds and formulation opportunities.
“I challenge every team and company that I support to answer big questions that will help patients. Neuroscience is a particularly challenging area in scale and complexity; I believe that Ovid is positioned to help answer major questions about intractable conditions of the brain,” said Dr. Langer, Sc.D. and Chair of the SAB. “The Company’s small molecule pipeline has multiple potential jewels that interdict novel targets involved in the pathophysiology of multiple disorders. In particular, the ROCK2 inhibition and KCC2 direct activator mechanisms hold the potential to treat, and potentially halt the progression of, multiple conditions. I look forward to working with the team and my experienced co-advisors in this pivotal time for Ovid.”
“Working with Professor Langer, we have brought together an intellectual powerhouse of renowned clinicians and translational scientists to tackle big questions and open up new potential therapeutic avenues for patients with intractable brain disorders. We are grateful to Bob for his leadership in convening the significant group together with our management as we progress deeper into the clinic,” said Dr. Zhong Zhong, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Ovid Therapeutics. “Together we will explore the actionable clinical applications of our molecules on KCC2 activation, GABA aminotransferase inhibition and ROCK2 inhibition. Our team is already benefiting from the exciting interactions with Professor Langer, Dr. Najm, Dr. Sankar, Dr. Maguire and Dr. Noebels as we advance our programs.”
Ovid anticipates moving its pipeline forward with multiple milestones expected in the second half of 2024, including: initiation of a Phase 2 proof of concept study of OV888/GV101 capsule, a highly selective and blood-brain barrier penetrant ROCK2 inhibitor; Phase 1 SAD and MAD data readout from OV329, a next-generation GABA-aminotransferase inhibitor; and IND submission for OV350, the first of multiple programs in the KCC2 library.
Working together with the SAB, Ovid looks to optimize its research, translation and clinical development plans.
Members of the Ovid Therapeutics Scientific Advisory Board
Robert Langer, Ph.D., Chair
Robert Langer is the chair of Ovid’s Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board. Dr. Langer is one of 10 Institute Professors at MIT and has written over 1,500 scholarly articles. He is also the most cited engineer in history (h-index 286, with over 338,000 citations according to Google Scholar). He has served as the chair of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Science Board, and has been recognized with over 220 awards, including the United States National Medals of both Science and Technology and Innovation. Dr. Langer was named as one of the 20 most important people in biotechnology by Discover magazine and one of 15 innovators who will reinvent our future by Forbes. TIME and CNN named him as one of the most important people in America and one of the 18 top people in science or medicine in America. He was also recognized as one of the world’s 25 most important individuals in biotechnology by Forbes and by BioWorld. Dr. Langer holds 35 honorary doctorate degrees and has been elected to the National Academies of Medicine, Engineering, Sciences and Inventors.
Imad Najm, M.D.
Imad Najm, M.D., is the Vice Chair for Strategy and Development at the Cleveland Clinic Neurological Institute and Director of the Cleveland Clinic Epilepsy Center (2006-present). He is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University and the Department of Neurobiology at Kent State University. Dr. Najm also has served as the Co-Director of Basic Sciences and Neurosciences at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, Head of Adult Epilepsy and Director of the Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology fellowship at Cleveland Clinic. His research over the last 34 years has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. Department of Defense, the Epilepsy Foundation, and multiple philanthropic donations. He has published 275 peer-reviewed papers in multiple journals, authored or co-authored many book chapters and edited two textbooks. He has lectured on epilepsy in more than 30 countries and organized international symposia, courses and workshops in more than 15 countries. His main areas of research interest include the mechanisms of disease (epileptogenicity/epileptogenesis), clinical and imaging correlates, and surgical management of focal cortical dysplasia. He has been teaching Basic Neurosciences at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine since 2005. He has mentored and co-mentored more than 300 epilepsy fellows and graduate students. Dr. Najm designed and co-directed the Neuroscience Curriculum at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Najm received his M.D. from Saint Joseph University in Beirut, Lebanon. He had post-graduate training in neurobiology at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Irvine. He also did post-graduate training in neurology, epilepsy, and clinical neurophysiology at Cleveland Clinic.
Raman Sankar, M.D., Ph.D.
Raman Sankar, M.D., Ph.D., is the Emeritus Chief of Pediatric Neurology at UCLA Health. He is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and the American Epilepsy Society, and a member of the American Pediatric Society, the Child Neurology Society and the Society for Neuroscience. He has served on several editorial boards of journals dedicated to epilepsy research and has also served on several NINDS-NIH review committees. He is a recipient of the Founders Award of the American Epilepsy Society, the highest honor conferred by the Society in recognition of outstanding lifetime achievement in the field of epilepsy. Board certified in neurology with special qualification in child neurology, he has dedicated over three decades to advancing research and clinical practices in epilepsy and child neurology. Dr. Sankar holds an M.D. from Tulane University and a Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry from the University of Washington.
Jamie Maguire, Ph.D.
Jamie Maguire, Ph.D., is Professor of Neuroscience at Tufts University School of Medicine and was named the Kenneth and JoAnn G. Wellner Professor in Neuroscience in 2019. Dr. Maguire is a member of the Graduate Biomedical Sciences Pharmacology and Neuroscience programs. She is the Director of the Building Diversity in Biomedical Sciences (BDBS) program and has a strong commitment to increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM and beyond. Her current research focuses on a systems physiology approach to the study of neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases, focusing on epilepsy and mood disorders, which has led to successful clinical trials for postpartum depression treatments. She received a BS in neuroscience and BA in the history of art and architecture from the University of Pittsburgh and her Ph.D. in neuroscience from George Washington University. Dr. Maguire trained as a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA investigating the ability of steroid hormones and neurosteroids to modulate GABAergic inhibition and their impact on mood disorders and epilepsy.
Jeffrey Noebels, M.D., Ph.D.
Jeffrey Noebels, M.D., Ph.D., is the Cullen Trust for Health Care Endowed Chair in Neurogenetics, and Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience, and Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine, where he directs the Blue Bird Circle Developmental Neurogenetics Laboratory. Dr Noebels is a past president of the American Epilepsy Society and fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Noebels’ research involves understanding how single genes regulate neuronal excitability and network synchronization within the central nervous system. His lab's recent work on mouse models of Alzheimer’s Disease and glioblastoma-related epilepsy has provided pioneering insights into the role of hyperexcitability in cognitive decline and tumorigenesis. He received a BA from Reed College, an M.D. from Yale University School of Medicine, and his Ph.D. from Stanford University. Dr. Noebels conducted his neurology residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, and a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard University. Board certified in neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, his research interests include gene control of neuronal excitability within the developing central nervous system, inherited neurological diseases, and epilepsy.
About Ovid Therapeutics
Ovid Therapeutics Inc. is a New York-based biopharmaceutical company that is dedicated to improving the lives of people affected by certain epilepsies and brain conditions with seizure symptoms. The Company is advancing a pipeline of novel, targeted small molecule candidates that modulate the intrinsic and extrinsic factors involved in neuronal hyperexcitability causative of seizures and other neurological symptoms. Ovid is developing: OV888/GV101 capsule, a potent and highly selective ROCK2 inhibitor capsule, for the potential treatment of cerebral cavernous malformations and other rare central nervous system diseases; OV329, a GABA-aminotransferase inhibitor, a potential therapy for treatment-resistant seizures; and OV350, a direct activator of the KCC2 transporter, for the potential treatment of epilepsies and other psychiatric conditions. For more information about these and other Ovid research programs, please visit www.ovidrx.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes certain disclosures by Ovid that contain “forward-looking statements,” including, without limitation: statements regarding the potential success of Ovid’s SAB; the potential application of Ovid’s pipeline programs and mechanisms of action to broader areas of neurology; the potential opportunity OV888/GV101 capsule; the timing of initiation and data readouts of Ovid’s Phase 2 clinical program studying OV888/GV101 capsule; and Ovid’s potential future business development opportunities and statements regarding the potential use and development of OV888/GV101 capsule, OV329, and OV350 and compounds from Ovid’s library of direct activators of KCC2. You can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “advances,” “anticipates,” “could,” “expects,” “may,” “plans,” “potential,” “promise,” “progress,” and “will,” and similar expressions (as well as other words or expressions referencing future events, conditions or circumstances). Forward-looking statements are based on Ovid’s current expectations and assumptions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements, which are neither statements of historical fact nor guarantees or assurances of future performance. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, without limitation, uncertainties inherent in the preclinical and clinical development and regulatory approval processes, risks related to Ovid’s ability to achieve its financial objectives, the risk that Ovid may not be able to realize the intended benefits of its technology or its business strategy, or risks related to Ovid’s ability to identify business development targets or strategic partners, to enter into strategic transactions on favorable terms, or to consummate and realize the benefits of any business development transactions. Additional risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are set forth under the caption “Risk Factors” in Ovid’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on May 14, 2024, and in future filings Ovid makes with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and Ovid assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether because of any new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law.
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