Dr. Johnson Recognized for Advancing Scientific Understanding of Alcoholism and its Prevention

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Feb. 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Adial Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADIL; ADILW), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of treatments for addiction, congratulates its Chairman, Dr.  Bankole Johnson, DSc, MD , for being named as the 2019 recipient of the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s (ASAM) Brinkley Smithers Distinguished Scientist Award. 

The award recognizes and honors an individual who has made highly meritorious contributions in advancing the scientific understanding of alcoholism, its prevention and treatment. The Award and lecture will be presented at ASAM’s 50 th  Annual Conference in April, 2019.

“This award from the American Society of Addiction Medicine is a great honor for Dr. Johnson, and it highlights how his leadership is bringing progress in the quest to find clinically based solutions for addiction to help the millions struggling with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD),” commented William Stilley, CEO of Adial Pharmaceuticals. “As recently reported in The Lancet, one of the world’s leading medical journals, alcohol is the number one cause of death globally among both men and women ages 15 to 49 years. Dr. Johnson’s work and leadership in the field is aimed to specifically address this enormous issue and this recognition highlights a career of dedication to finding answers for those suffering from AUD.”

The ASAM, founded in 1954, is a professional medical society representing more than 6,000 physicians, clinicians and associated professionals in the field of addiction medicine. The R. Brinkley Smithers Distinguished Scientist Award and Lecture was established by ASAM in 1995 as a lasting tribute to R. Brinkley Smithers, who influenced American alcoholism policy, theory and treatment.

About Adial Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Adial Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of treatments for addictions. The Company’s lead investigational new drug candidate, AD04, is a genetically targeted therapeutic agent for the treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder (“AUD”). A Phase 2b clinical trial of AD04 for the treatment of AUD showed promising results in reducing frequency of drinking, quantity of drinking and heavy drinking (all with statistical significance), and no overt safety concerns (there were no statistically significant serious adverse events reported). The Company plans to commence a Phase 3 clinical trial using AD04 for the potential treatment of AUD in subjects with certain target genotypes, which are to be identified using the Company’s proprietary companion diagnostic genetic test. AD04 is also believed to have the potential to treat other addictive disorders such as opioid use disorder, gambling, and obesity.

Forward Looking Statements

This communication contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws. Such statements are based upon various facts and derived utilizing numerous important assumptions and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Statements preceded by, followed by or that otherwise include the words “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “projects,” “estimates,” “plans” and similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “should,” “would,” “may” and “could” are generally forward-looking in nature and not historical facts, although not all forward-looking statements include the foregoing. These statements are based upon current beliefs, expectations and assumptions and include statements regarding plans to commence a Phase 3 clinical trial using AD04 for the potential treatment of AUD in subjects with certain target genotypes. Any forward-looking statements included herein reflect our current views, and they involve certain risks and uncertainties, including, among others, our ability commence the Phase 3 clinical trials in the first half of 2019,  the ability of AD04 therapy to perform as designed, to demonstrate safety and efficacy, as well as results that are consistent with prior results, the ability to enroll patients and complete the clinical trials on time and achieve desired results and benefits, our ability to obtain regulatory approvals for commercialization of product candidates or to comply with ongoing regulatory requirements, regulatory limitations relating to our  ability to promote or commercialize our product candidates for specific indications, acceptance of its product candidates in the marketplace and the successful development, marketing or sale of products, our ability to maintain our license agreements, the continued maintenance and growth of our patent estate, our ability to establish and maintain collaborations, our ability to obtain or maintain the capital or grants necessary to fund our research and development activities, and our ability to retain our key employees or maintain our Nasdaq listing. These risks should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read together with the other cautionary statements included in our registration statement on Form S-1 that we have filed with the SEC and the final prospectus and our Current Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2018. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it was initially made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise, unless required by law.

Contact:

Crescendo Communications, LLC David Waldman / Natalya Rudman Tel: 212-671-1021 Email:  dwaldman@crescendo-ir.com