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December 13, 2005
Dr. Rodger McEver and Dr. Richard Cummings, Selexys Pharmaceuticals Corporation, 12/7/05
Dr. Rodger P. McEver is Vice President of Research and Eli Lilly Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Research, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. Dr. McEver received an NIH MERIT Award in 1997 and an NIH Research Career Development Award in 1986. He has published more than 20 articles in peer-reviewed journals, and was elected to the Association of American Physicians in 1994. He is Principal Investigator on the NIH-sponsored, "Molecular Basis of Selectin Interactions with Leukocytes", and is Mentor on the NIH-sponsored, "Post-Translational Modifications in Host Defense".
Dr. Richard Cummings is the Ed Miller Endowed Chair and the George Lynn Cross Distinguished Research Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center College of Medicine in Oklahoma City, OK. He is also the Founder and Director of the Oklahoma Center for Medical Glycobiology, a center founded in 1999 and devoted to studying the role of complex carbohydrates in human and animal diseases. Rick is one of the authors of the first textbook on glycobiology—Essentials of Glycobiology—from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, published in 1999. Rick is the author of over 140 peer-reviewed publications in the field of glycobiology, and is one of the top 10–cited researchers in the field. He is Associate Editor and on the Editorial Board of several major peer-reviewed research journals. Rick holds over 20 U.S. patents in various areas of biotechnology. He has been a consultant with many of the major biotechnology companies in the world, including Amgen, Abbott, and Glaxo.
Drs. McEver and Cummings are the Founders of Selexys Pharmaceuticals Corporation. The Company develops and commercializes therapeutics for the treatment of inflammatory and thrombotic disorders. Selexys has a well-characterized target called P-selectin that mediates the first step in inflammation. Selexys lead drug program is an antibody that blocks P-selectin and inhibits P-selectin function in the recruitment of white blood cells to sites of inflammation. The lead clinical target is sickle cell disease. The Company founders are experts in the fields of vascular biology and protein-carbohydrate interactions that enable cell adhesion. Selexys is actively seeking co-development and licensing partners for these technologies. Selexys has rights to 15 issued patents.
Posted by David Lemberg at December 13, 2005 09:34 AM Return to SCIENCE AND SOCIETY home page