AIM ImmunoTech Appoints Preeminent Biotechnology Pioneer, W. Neal Burnette, Ph.D., as Chairman of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB)
Company's SAB is comprised of well-established leaders with expertise across biomedical research, academia, and pharmaceutical industry
OCALA, Fla., April 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AIM ImmunoTech Inc. (NYSE:AIM) ("AIM" or the "Company"), an immuno-pharma company focused on the research and development of therapeutics to treat multiple types of cancers, immune disorders and viral diseases, today announced the appointment of W. Neal Burnette, Ph.D., as Chairman of its Scientific Advisory Board ("SAB").
"We are pleased to have an SAB comprised of seasoned individuals with expertise across a wide range of fields and their continued input will provide valuable insight as we continue to advance our full development pipeline. Bolstering that established expertise, we are thrilled to have Dr. Burnette assume the role as Chairman for our SAB. Over the course of his career, he has made world-renowned contributions to our industry and we look forward to leveraging his insight and experience as we continue to advance Ampligen. We believe his leadership and expertise will be a tremendous asset to AIM and we look forward to working closely with him and the other members of our SAB moving forward," commented AIM Chief Executive Officer Thomas K. Equels.
About W. Neal Burnette, Ph.D.
Dr. Burnette is an experienced biomedical research scientist in academia, industry, and the military, and consultant and corporate executive for development-stage biomedical companies. He received his doctoral training in retrovirology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, was a postdoctoral fellow in molecular biology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and was on the research staffs of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the Salk Institute. Dr. Burnette was one of the very earliest scientists of Amgen, where he led programs that resulted in the first experimental recombinant vaccines for hepatitis B, pertussis, cholera, and a number of animal infectious diseases. He was subsequently the Director and acting CEO, COO, and CSO of a number of smaller biomedical companies and remains a consultant in vaccine research, biomedical business development, corporate management, and capital acquisition for early-stage companies. Among his other contributions to medical science were the development of the first "genetic toxoids" for pertussis and cholera, and the invention of the widely used laboratory and diagnostic technique known as "Western blotting".
Colonel Burnette retired in 2005 from the Army after 35 years in the active and reserve components, where he served in various field medical and combat operations staff and command assignments of ever increasing responsibility. As a reservist with the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) in the 1990's, he was a senior infectious disease consultant to the command. Immediately after 9/11, he was again recalled to active duty at Fort Detrick where he laid the groundwork for ID-IDEAL, the first-ever quantitative, algorithmic, acquisition-sensitive assessment of endemic infectious disease threats to future military operations. He was subsequently transferred to the Pentagon as the assistant Joint Services Program Executive Officer for Chemical and Biological Defense (JPEO-CBD), where he oversaw all Department of Defense acquisition programs for medical countermeasures against biological, chemical, and radiological threat agents. Among his responsibilities, he: advised on all issues relating to DoD, national, and international medical CBD requirements; created comprehensive strategies for protecting U.S. and allied forces from Chemical Warfare and Biological Defense ("CBW") threats; provided technical and programmatic evaluation of all CBD efforts and products, from conception through advanced development; represented all medical CBD interests within the DoD, with other U.S. Government agencies, the U.S. Congress, civilian industry, academia, and allied nations. Among his contributions in the JPEO-CBD during his tenure were: acquisition of smallpox vaccine; full-rate production and distribution of anthrax vaccine for the DoD, DHHS, and DHS; and responsibility for intra- and inter-agency operability, particularly relating to vaccine/drug acquisition and to Project Bioshield. As a member of President Bush's Interagency Working Group on Weapons of Mass Destruction, Colonel Burnette sat on its senior steering panel and on six separate subgroups (acquisition, requirements, industrial relations, research gaps, diagnostics, and drugs). Likewise, he was a member of the DoD Vaccine Allocation Committee during Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Boards of Directors of the JPEO-CBD and USAMRMC and is a Certified Professional Acquisition Officer in Program Management.
About the SAB members:
William Mitchell, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Mitchell is a Professor of Pathology, Microbiology & Immunology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and is a board-certified physician. He has published over 200 papers, reviews and abstracts that relate to the pathogenesis of obligate intracellular pathogens, innate and adaptive immune responses, and liquid biopsy cancer (chromosomal instability) diagnostics. He is the inventor or co-inventor of 14 issued US patents as well as derivative foreign patents. Dr. Mitchell has worked with many professional societies that have included the American Society of Investigative Pathology (ASIP), the International Society for Antiviral Research (ISAR), the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), the American Society of Microbiology (ASM), and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Dr. Mitchell is a member of the American Medical Association (AMA). He has served on numerous review committees for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the European Union (EU), and the College of American Pathology (CAP). He served as an independent director of Chronix Biomedical, a genetics based cancer diagnostic company, until acquired by OncoCyte (OCX) in 2021. Dr. Mitchell currently serves as the Chairman of the AIM ImmunoTech Board of Directors.
Ronald Brus, M.D.
Dr. Brus is a physician with a passion for the biopharmaceutical industry. He currently serves as CEO of myTomorrows, a company he founded that bridges the gap between patients who are searching for treatment options and the pharmaceutical companies who provide them. He is also the co-founder and CBO of Leyden Labs, a company targeting commonalities of respiratory viruses to protect against known and future viral outbreaks. He spent 14 years at Crucell, a biotechnology company specializing in vaccines, serving in various roles including CEO, COO, CBO and EVP of business development. Dr. Brus also formerly served as a member of the executive committee for Galapagos NV. Dr. Brus earned his medical degree from the University of Groningen.
Christopher Nicodemus, M.D.
Dr. Nicodemus is a well-established Biotechnology educator, physician, researcher who has dedicated his career to research into immune modulation and medicine with fundamental skills in cellular and molecular biology applied to clinical immunology and drug development. His early efforts using peptides as immunogens, led to the study of T-cell reactive epitopes and tolerance induction, which has most recently evolved into study of antibodies to elicit immunity. His original clinical focus in allergy, autoimmunity, and asthma has more recently focused on tumor immunology, with an emphasis on ovarian cancer immunobiology and immunotherapy. Actively publish, lecture and collaborate in the field. He has directed the Research and Development program in the Boston area subsidiary of United Therapeutics with a focus on research and development of innovative cancer immunotherapeutics. Additionally, he founded Advanced Immune Therapeutics and currently serves as Chairman and Chief Scientific Officer, Advanced Immune Therapeutics, Inc., which focuses on the development of novel therapeutics using clinical immunology, with an initial focus in oncology.
Philip Ransom Roane, Ph.D.
Dr. Roane is an academic leader who remains active in the teaching, research and training programs at Howard University. He currently serves as a tenured Associate Professor of Microbiology, Coordinator for Immunology-Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, and the unit head of Virology in the Department of Microbiology at Howard University. He previously served as the Chair of the Curriculum Committee on the College of Medicine from 1998 to 2005. He was a Scientific Advisor and appointed to the Data Monitoring Committee for Hemispherx Biopharma. Over the course of his career, he has received a number of honors and rewards and has authored over 40 publications and abstracts. He is a member of the Society of Sigma Xi, American Society for Microbiology, American Association for the Advancement of Science and the New York Academy of Science.
About AIM ImmunoTech Inc.
AIM ImmunoTech Inc. is an immuno-pharma company focused on the research and development of therapeutics to treat multiple types of cancers, immune disorders and viral diseases, including COVID-19. The Company's lead product is a first-in-class investigational drug called Ampligen® (rintatolimod), a dsRNA and highly selective TLR3 agonist immuno-modulator with broad spectrum activity in clinical trials for globally important cancers, viral diseases and disorders of the immune system.
For more information, please visit aimimmuno.com and connect with the Company on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
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