AMBS - Amarantus Biosciences, Inc. DD Bus

AMBS - Amarantus Biosciences, Inc. DD



Business Description
Amarantus BioSciences, Inc. is a California-based development-stage biotechnology company founded in January 2008. The Company focuses on developing its intellectual property and proprietary technology to develop drug candidates to treat human disease. The Company owns the intellectual property rights to a therapeutic protein known as Mesencephalic-Astrocyte-derived Neurotrophic Factor (“MANF”).

MANF is a protein that corrects protein misfolding. Protein misfolding is one of the major causes of apoptosis (cell death). This property provides a compelling rationale for the research & development of MANF-based products as therapeutics for human disease. Amarantus’ lead MANF product development effort is centered on a therapy for Parkinson ’s disease.

The Company also owns an inventory of 88 cell lines that the Company refers to as PhenoGuard Cell Lines. MANF was the first therapeutic protein discovered from a PhenoGuard Cell Line. The Company believes that it may identify additional therapeutic proteins from its inventory of PhenoGuard Cell Lines.

Amarantus BioScience is a development-stage, publicly-traded biotechnology company discovering & developing first-in-class treatments for diseases associated with the dysfunction of a wide range of biological pathways, beginning with apoptosis.
Neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, ALS and Alzheimer’s as well as Cardiovascular Disease such as Myocardial Infarction, Angina, Coronary Artery Disease and Heart Failure are in dire need of treatments that address the region specific apoptosis associated with each disorder.
Amarantus BioScience intends to advance therapies that will provide patients with safe and effective treatment options and help curb the soaring healthcare costs associated with care of chronic illnesses. The Company is currently focusing on the development of its lead drug candidate AMRS001 for Parkinson’s Disease and Cardiac Ischemia.

Contact Info
675 Almanor Ave.
Sunnyvale, CA 94085

Website: http://www.amarantus.com
Phone: 408-737-2734
Email: gerald@amarantus.com

http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/AMBS/company-info


Management Team
Gerald E. Commissiong
President & CEO
Mr. Commissiong was appointed President & CEO of Amarantus BioScience in October 2011. In March 2011, Mr. Commissiong was promoted to Chief Operating Officer of Amarantus, where his duties included strategic transactions, licensing, research collaborations, mergers & acquisitions, fund raising and investor relations. From August 2009 until March 2011, he served as Chief Business Officer where he was responsible for business development and corporate development. In 2008, Mr. Commissiong co-founded Amarantus with Dr. John Commissiong PhD and served as its President & CEO until August 2009. In that timeframe, Mr. Commissiong attracted seed capital, acquired the intellectual property rights to MANF and recruited scientific and executive talent to Amarantus to allow for the further development of the technologies. Mr. Commissiong has served as a Director of Amarantus since 2008. Prior to co-founding Amarantus, Mr. Commissiong played professional football for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. Mr. Commissiong received a B.Sc. in Management Science and Engineering with a focus Financial Decisions from Stanford University.

John W. Commissiong, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Commissiong has served as the Chief Scientific Officer and a Director of Amarantus since co-founding the company in 2009. From 2000 through 2008 Dr. Commissiong served as the CSO of Neurotrophics Inc & Prescient Neuropharma Inc. Dr. Commissiong has been focused on the discovery of novel neurotrophic factors for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases as well as understanding the fundamental underlying biology of protoplasmic type-1 astrocytes that secrete neurotrophic factors. He was Chief of the Neural Transplantation Unit, NINDS-NIH, from 1989-94 where his research focused on identifying therapeutic approaches to spinal cord injury. Dr. Commissiong was Head of the Neurotrophic Factors Group, NINDS-NIH, from 1994-97 where he focused on developing technologies to systematically identify novel neurotrophic factors with applications for specific Central Nervous System disorders. He co-founded Prescient Neuropharma in 1999, and discovered MANF in 2003. MANF is currently in preclinical development for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. The work pioneered by Dr. Commissiong has led to significant advancements in the field of astrocyte-neuron biology. Dr. Commissiong believes that a fundamental understanding of astrocyte-neuron interactions in the Central Nervous System will lead to a new generation of therapies to treat brain-related disorders.
Dr. Commissiong did his Postdoctoral work in the Lab Preclin Pharmac, NIMH-NIH, concentrating on the application of quadrupole mass spectrometry in the analysis of neurotransmitters. He holds a Ph.D. in Neurophysiology from the University of Southampton, an M.Sc. in Biochemical Pharmacology from the University of Southampton, and a B.S. in Biology and Chemistry from the University of the West Indies.

Marc E. Faerber
Chief Financial Office r
Mr. Faerber has over thirty years of experience and over nineteen of those in life sciences. His experience has spanned Fortune 500 companies to start-ups, and everything in between. During the past ten years Mr. Faerber has been providing financial, business and advisory services to a broad base of start-up companies primarily in the fields of cardiology, gastroenterology, orthopedics, diagnostics and biotechnology.
Mr. Faerber has extensive transactional experience, including considerable experience in establishing international organizations throughout Europe and parts of Asia, international technology licensing and distribution transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and numerous funding transactions, including an initial public offering as well as other international business structural issues. During Mr. Faerber’s career he has held various positions in finance and corporate management including CFO, CEO and Director. Mr. Faerber started his career working for KPMG, is a certified public accountant, and has a Bachelor of Sciences in Business Administration from Providence College.

Amarantus BioSciences » Development

MANF


Parkash et al (2009) PEDS
MANF is a highly potent, neurotrophic factor currently in pre-clinical development for the treatment of several apoptosis-related disorders. Coming after other selective neurotrophic factors such as GDNF, Neurturin, NGF, and others, MANF’s discovery protocols, utilizing our proprietary PhenoGuard Protein Discovery Engine were designed to identify a molecule that would be highly selective for dopamine producing neurons of the Substantia Nigra. MANF represents a new family of neurotrophic factors with mechanisms of action fundamentally differentiated from its predecessors.

MANF is an endogenous, highly-conserved, ubiquitously expressed and highly potent secreted human growth factor up-regulated in the adaptive pathway of the Unfolded Protein Response resulting in the prevention of apoptosis. This cell death is associated with several devastating human diseases and injury related disorders. By mediating this critical biological process, MANF is indicated for the treatment of several poorly served medical conditions, including Parkinson’s disease and Ischemic Heart Disease.

Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder and belongs to a group of conditions called motor system disorders, which are the result of the loss of dopamine-producing brain cells. The four primary symptoms of PD are tremor, or trembling in hands, arms, legs, jaw, and face; rigidity, or stiffness of the limbs and trunk; bradykinesia, or slowness of movement; and postural instability, or impaired balance and coordination. As these symptoms become more pronounced, patients may have difficulty walking, talking, or completing other simple tasks. PD usually affects people over the age of 50. Early symptoms of PD are subtle and occur gradually. In some people the disease progresses more quickly than in others. As the disease progresses, the shaking, or tremor, which affects the majority of PD patients may begin to interfere with daily activities. Other symptoms may include depression and other emotional changes; difficulty in swallowing, chewing, and speaking; urinary problems or constipation; skin problems; and sleep disruptions. There are currently no blood or laboratory tests that have been proven to help in diagnosing sporadic PD. Therefore the diagnosis is based on medical history and a neurological examination. The disease can be difficult to diagnose accurately. Doctors may sometimes request brain scans or laboratory tests in order to rule out other diseases.

Current approved therapies treat only the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. There is an urgent medical need for curative treatments for Parkinson’s disease that fills the fundamental gap in treatment: arresting disease progression. MANF, a neurotrophic factor indicated for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, offers the promise of safely and effectively protecting dopamine producing neurons from death and rejuvenating dying cells to ultimately stop the progress of Parkinson’s disease and restore normal function to patients.

Ischemic Heart Disease

Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) is a disease characterized by reduced blood supply to the heart muscle, usually due to atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries. Its risk increases with age, smoking, high cholesterol levels, diabetes and hypertension. It is more common in men and those who have a family history of IHD.

Symptoms of stable IHD include angina and decreased exercise tolerance. Unstable IHD presents itself as chest pain or other symptoms at rest, or rapidly worsening angina. Diagnosis of IHD is with an electrocardiogram, blood tests (cardiac markers), cardiac stress testing or a coronary angiogram. Depending on the symptoms and risk, treatment may be with medication, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG). Myocardial infarction (MI) or acute myocardial infarction (AMI), commonly known as a heart attack is caused by interruption of blood supply to parts of the heart, causing some heart cells to die. This is most commonly due to blockage of a coronary artery associated with an atherosclerotic plaque, which is an unstable collection of lipids and white blood cells in the wall of an artery. The resulting ischemia and associated oxygen shortage, if left untreated for a sufficient period of time, can cause necrosis followed by apoptosis or Programmed Cell Death in the affected parts of the myocardium. Classical symptoms of acute myocardial infarction include sudden chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, palpitations and sweating. Approximately 25% of all myocardial infarctions are silent, without chest pain or other symptoms.

Ischemic Heart Disease is the most common cause of death in most Western countries, and a major cause of hospital admissions. There is limited evidence for population screening, but prevention is used both to prevent IHD and to decrease the risk of complications. Myocardial Infarctions are one of the leading causes of death for both men and women all over the world. Important risk factors are previous cardiovascular disease, older age, tobacco smoking, high blood levels of certain lipids and low levels of high density lipoprotein, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, chronic kidney disease, excessive alcohol consumption, and chronic high stress levels.

The common theme of the many forms of IHD, including myocardial infarction, that have been characterized is the pathway of apoptosis-related cell death associated with reperfusion related injuries. MANF has been shown to be robustly upregulated, and to protect heart muscle in reperfusion models of cardiac ischemia.

NEWS:
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