NEWARK, N.J., Dec. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Rafael Holdings,
Inc., (NYSE: RFL), has launched an initiative to identify and
develop or in-license promising pre-clinical compounds targeting
the unique cellular metabolism of cancers with high levels of unmet
needs.
The Rafael Holdings' initiative is named the Barer
Institute for Dr. Sol J. Barer,
Chairman of the Board of Teva Pharmaceuticals, Chairman of
Centrexion Therapeutics, Lead Director of Contrafect Corp, Chairman
of Neximmune, and Board member of 3DBioteherapeutics and Aevi
Genomic Therapeutics, Founding Chair of the Hackensack Meridian
Center for Discovery and Innovation and advisor to the Israel
Biotech Fund. Dr. Barer is a co-founder of Celgene Corporation
and served as Celgene's Executive Chairman, President, CEO, and
COO. Previously, he was the founder of the biotechnology group
at Celanese Corporation, which was subsequently spun off as
Celgene.
In addition to a distinguished Board of Directors and
management, the Barer Institute has assembled a renowned scientific
leadership team including:
Chief Scientific Advisor: Chi Van Dang, M.D., Ph.D., Scientific Director
of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Professor of the
Molecular & Cellular Oncogenesis Program at Wistar, and
Editor-in Chief of the American Association for Cancer Research
(AACR)'s flagship journal, Cancer Research.
Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Board
Member: Richard Axel,
M.D., recipient of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine,
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) professor, and professor of
biochemistry and molecular biophysics, neuroscience, and pathology
at Columbia University College of Physicians
and Surgeons.
Scientific Advisory Board Member: Josh Rabinowitz, M.D., Ph.D.: Professor of
Chemistry at the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics at
Princeton University and leader in
1-carbon metabolism research.
Scientific Advisory Board Member: Joseph M. Salvino, Ph.D.: Medicinal chemist and
Professor at the Molecular & Cellular Oncogenesis Program at
the Wistar Institute and Scientific Director of the Wistar's
Molecular Screening & Protein Expression Facility. The Salvino
Laboratory at Wistar focuses on early drug discovery and small
molecule tool compounds for in vivo target validation.
Dr. Dang said, "The Barer Institute, motivated by
clinical responses of Rafael Pharma's CPI-613® (devimistat), will
drive pre-clinical development of new chemical modifiers of cancer
immunometabolism. Our work to develop a new class of broadly
applicable cancer therapies will be informed by our distinguished
Scientific Advisory Board including Professors Richard Axel at Columbia, Josh
Rabinowitz at Princeton and
Joseph Salvino at the Wistar
Institute."
Howard Jonas, Chairman and CEO of
Rafael Holdings, will serve as Chairman of the Barer
Institute.
The Barer Institute also will be led by its Director,
Ari Landon, Ph.D., previously
Director of Innovation at Rafael Holdings. Ari Landon earned
his doctorate from the University of
Maryland identifying translational strategies in lymphoma
and was a post-doctoral fellow at the Yale
School of Medicine developing methods to study mitochondria
in lymphoma.
"We are excited to launch the Barer Institute," Dr.
Landon said. "We have assembled top-flight scientific advisory and
hands-on operational teams to develop novel strategies targeting
cancer utilizing intellectual property developed internally or
obtained through in-licensing agreements with academic
institutions. Our streamlined and innovative approach enables
scientists to focus entirely on collaborative development."
About Rafael Holdings, Inc.:
Rafael Holdings holds
commercial real estate assets and interests in clinical stage
pharmaceutical companies. The real estate holdings consist of
properties in Newark and
Piscataway, New Jersey and
Jerusalem, Israel. The
pharmaceutical holdings include interests in two companies focused
on the development and commercialization of oncology drugs:
Rafael Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and LipoMedix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. In
addition, Rafael Holdings through its wholly owned subsidiary, the
Barer Institute, is developing a pipeline of therapeutic
compounds including compounds to regulate cancer metabolism. For
more information, visit www.rafaelholdings.com.
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SOURCE Rafael Holdings, Inc.