US specialty pharma company Citius Pharmaceuticals expands Scientific Advisory Board
Pharma industry news : Citius Pharmaceuticals, a New Jersey-based specialty pharma company, has added Dr. Lawrence Mermel to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).
A Professor of Medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Dr. Lawrence Mermel joins Dr. Mark Rupp, Professor and Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and Dr. Isaam Raad, the Chair of MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Department of Infectious Diseases.
All the three persons are known as opinion leaders in bloodstream infections, said Citius Pharmaceuticals. The specialty pharma company further said that apart from being outstanding clinicians, each of them has headed research in Catheter Related Bloodstream Infections (CRBSIs), written major scientific and clinical papers, headed nationally known organizations, and contributed considerably to the treatment guidelines followed by physicians across the world.
US specialty pharma company Citius Pharmaceuticals expands Scientific Advisory Board. Photo courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
Citius Pharmaceuticals said that its Scientific Advisory Board will be counseling it on its development programs, especially the anti-infective portfolio which includes the Mino-Lok technology.
According to the specialty pharma company, Mino-Lok is designed to restore infected Central Venous Catheters (CVCs) that cause the Catheter Related Bloodstream Infections.
In several patients having chronic and debilitating diseases and poor vascular access, it is important to preserve the CVC to maintain life sustaining therapy such as chemotherapy, dialysis and medications. Apart from that, avoiding the requirement to replace an indwelling CVC with an effective antibiotic lock salvage, could cut down the morbidity and mortality related manipulating CVCs, said Citius Pharmaceuticals.
The specialty pharmaceutical company said that this is a recognized unmet medical requirement, as there is a lack of large scale studies to offer strong evidence on the effectiveness of antibiotic lock therapies (ALTs).
IDSA Guidelines call for the elimination of infected CVCs in several serious CRBSIs and replacing with new CVCs if the patients need long term therapy.
Myron Holubiak, CEO of Citius Pharmaceuticals, said: “We are honored to have been able to empanel such a prestigious group of experts to help guide us in the development of Mino-Lok and other infectious disease products.
“All of our SAB members are recognized opinion leaders who developed our understanding of these diseases, how to prevent them, and how to treat them. These world class Infectious Disease leaders will advise us in driving the company’s current Phase 3 study forward and offer valuable perspective as we advance our anti-infective development programs.”
As per Citius Pharmaceuticals, its Mino-Lok product features a combination of minocycline, edetate (disodium EDTA), and ethyl alcohol – all these synergistically act to break down bacterial biofilms, eliminate the bacteria, give anti-clotting properties to maintain patency in CVCs, and restore the indwelling catheter.
The Mino-Lok product, which is being studied and yet to approved, is used in two-hour locking cycles enabling the CVC to be used for its intended objectives for the remainder 22 hours in each day, said the specialty pharma company.