Leading-edge Scientists in Innate Immunity Join Qu

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 15, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Qu Biologics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing Site Specific Immunomodulators (SSIs), a novel platform of immunotherapies designed to restore innate immune function, is pleased to announce the addition of four members to Qu’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), consisting of world leading experts in the fields of innate immunity, immunotherapy, oncology, infectious diseases and inflammatory bowel disease. The addition of these pioneering scientists will accelerate the broader application of the company’s cutting-edge approach for the treatment of immune pathologies. 

Qu welcomes the following leading scientists to Qu’s SAB:

Professor Mihai Netea (Radboud University, Netherlands)

Professor Netea is the founder of the paradigm-shifting new field of “trained innate immunity” and is considered one of the foremost scientists in the field of inflammation research. His work is considered ground-breaking in understanding how the innate immune system is trained through its experience with microbes, and this new awareness is paving the way for the development of novel ways of treating immune-related diseases through innate immune regulation.

Professor Dieter Kabelitz (Institute of Immunology, University of Kiel, Germany)

Professor Kabelitz is an internationally prominent clinician scientist and immunologist with over 360 peer-reviewed articles. He specializes in the study of innate lymphocytes and their role in controlling cancer and infections. Professor Kabelitz has served as the President of the German Society of Immunology and is a long-standing council member of the International Union of Immunological Societies.

Professor Rafick-Pierre Sekaly (Case Western Reserve University, USA)

Professor Sekaly is an immunologist that has pioneered the use of systems immunology approaches to understand the mechanisms triggered by vaccines and immune based therapies which lead to protection from infection and disease progression in chronic infectious diseases and in cancer. He was a prominent scientist at Universite de Montreal and McGill where he received significant funding to establish collaborative research networks to improve cures and vaccines. He was recruited in 2014 to Case Western Reserve University where he holds the Richard J. Fasenmyer Professor of Immunopathogenesis.

Professor Bruce Vallance (Child and Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Canada)

Professor Vallance is an internationally acclaimed scientist in the field of gastroenterology and inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. As a leading expert on the molecular pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease, he serves as a scientific advisor for Crohn’s and Colitis Canada. Professor Vallance has previously collaborated with Qu to investigate how SSI treatment improves inflammatory bowel disease at the mucosal level, using specialized animal models of the disease similar to that seen in humans.

“We are very pleased that Drs. Netea, Kabelitz, Sekaly and Vallance have joined Qu’s Scientific Advisory Board and are excited about working with these leading scientists in the field of innate immunity to fulfill the broad promise of Qu’s novel platform,” said Dr. Hal Gunn, Qu’s founder and CEO. Dr. Shirin Kalyan, Qu Biologics’ Director of Scientific Innovation, added, “Qu’s approach to treating chronic immune related diseases is very different from current therapies that treat the end result of the disease. The recent paradigm-shifting understanding of how innate immune function is trained through exposure to microbial stimulation provides an important means to reprogram innate immune function to direct its capacity to overcome pathology. This is the basis of Qu’s patents and the mechanism of action of Qu’s first-in-class immunotherapy platform. Qu’s Scientific Advisory Board, comprised of leading scientists in this emerging field of trained innate immunity , recognize the significant potential of this approach to treat a broad range of immune related diseases.” Dr. Hal Gunn, added, “Most current immunotherapy treatments treat the end result of disease by skewing the immune response to one extreme or the other. Qu SSI’s aim to restore healthy immune function and balance. Qu’s new Scientific Advisory Board has the necessary forward-looking expertise to guide the optimal acceleration of Qu’s novel platform to improve health outcomes for these challenging diseases. We are very pleased to be working with this excellent team.”

For more information about Qu Biologics and the science behind SSIs, please visit www.qubiologics.com .

About Qu Biologics Qu Biologics is a clinical stage biotechnology company developing Site Specific Immunomodulators (SSI), a novel class of immunotherapies designed to stimulate an innate immune response in targeted organs to reverse the chronic inflammation underlying many important diseases including inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, inflammatory lung disease and arthritis. Qu has completed three Phase 2 studies in Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and lung cancer.

Backed by a prestigious group of scientific advisors and board members, Qu Biologics is led by a management team that includes co-founder and CEO Dr. Hal Gunn, a physician and expert on the body’s immune response to chronic disease; and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Simon Sutcliffe, former CEO of the BC Cancer Agency and a distinguished clinician, scientist and leader in cancer control in Canada and internationally.

For more information regarding this press release, contact:

Hal Gunn, MD CEO Qu Biologics Inc. Phone: 604.734.1450 Email: media@qubiologics.com

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