LAUSANNE, Switzerland, June 27, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AC Immune SA (NASDAQ: ACIU), a Swiss-based, biopharmaceutical company with a broad clinical-stage pipeline focused on pioneering precision medicine in neurodegenerative diseases, today announced that it will host a Key Opinion Leader (KOL) meeting on treating Alzheimer’s disease in people with Down syndrome on Thursday, July 11, 2019, in New York City.
Down syndrome (DS) is characterized by the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) symptoms by age 20, and nearly all DS patients display AD-like symptoms by age 40. Treating AD in DS patients is imperative for this patient population and may also be critical for developing successful treatments for the broader AD population by testing potential AD therapeutics in a more homogeneous group earlier in the course of disease development. Many KOLs – and AC Immune – believe that, with this approach, it may be possible to more rapidly identify successful treatment strategies, including combination therapies for AD, to benefit DS patients as well as the AD community. This is the theme of AC Immune’s KOL Breakfast, which will examine the Company’s Roadmap for developing innovative treatment paradigms for neurodegenerative diseases.
Company and KOL presentations will be followed by an interactive roundtable discussion between the audience, the KOLs, Professor Andrea Pfeifer, Ph.D., CEO, and Marie Kosco-Vilbois, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of AC Immune SA. The event will be webcast live and archived on the Investor Page of AC Immune's website, ir.acimmune.com.
Key Opinion Leader Biographies:
William C. Mobley, M.D., Ph.D., is an Executive Director of UCSD’s Down Syndrome Center for Research and Treatment and the Florence Riford Chair of Alzheimer’s Disease Research. Dr. Mobley came to UCSD in 2009 from Stanford University where he served as the John E. Cahill Family Professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences and was the founding director of the Neuroscience Institute. Dr. Mobley earned his M.D. and Ph.D. in Neuro- & Behavioral Science, as well as an internship in pathology, all at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. He then went on to complete a residency and fellowship in neurology and pediatric neurology at The Johns Hopkins University. While there, he was selected to serve as Chief Resident in Pediatric Neurology. He is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology with Special Competence in Child Neurology.
Dr. Brian Skotko, M.D., M.P.P., is a Board-certified medical geneticist and the Emma Campbell Endowed Chair on Down Syndrome at Massachusetts General Hospital. As the Director of the hospital’s Down Syndrome Program, he has dedicated his professional energies toward children with cognitive and development disabilities. Dr. Skotko co-authored the national award-winning books, Common Threads: Celebrating Life with Down Syndrome and Fasten Your Seatbelt: A Crash Course on Down Syndrome for Brothers and Sisters. He is a graduate of Duke University, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard Kennedy School, and he is currently an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Skotko is a leader on clinical and translational research about Down syndrome. He has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The L.A. Times, NPR’s “On Point,” and ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Dr. Skotko has a sister with Down syndrome and serves on the Honorary Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress.
This event is intended for institutional investors, sell-side analysts, and pharmaceutical business development professionals only. Please RSVP in advance if you plan to attend, as space is limited.
About AC Immune
AC Immune SA is a Nasdaq-listed clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, which aims to become a global leader in precision medicine for neurodegenerative diseases. The Company is utilizing two proprietary discovery platforms, SupraAntigen™ and Morphomer™, to design, discover and develop small molecule and biological therapeutics as well as diagnostic products intended to diagnose, prevent and modify neurodegenerative diseases caused by misfolding proteins. The Company's pipeline features nine therapeutic and three diagnostic product candidates, with five currently in clinical trials. It has collaborations with major pharmaceutical companies including Roche/Genentech, Eli Lilly and Janssen.
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Forward looking statements
This press release contains statements that constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements are statements other than historical fact and may include statements that address future operating, financial or business performance or AC Immune’s strategies or expectations. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “projects,” “potential,” “outlook” or “continue,” and other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs and involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. These risks and uncertainties include those described under the captions “Item 3. Key Information—Risk Factors” and “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” in AC Immune’s Annual Report on Form 20-F and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and AC Immune does not undertake any obligation to update them in light of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable law. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.
Source: AC Immune SA