Initiator Pharma A/S, a clinical-stage biotech company, today announced the appointment of Dr. Allan Wehnert as SVP, Head of Clinical and R&D Strategy and Portfolio Management, and the formation of a Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board (SCAB). The strengthening of the clinical expertise is a direct result of Initiator Pharma's progress in clinical development of the lead assets IPED2015 and IP2018.
Dr. Allan Wehnert joins Initiator Pharma as Senior Vice President, Clinical and R&D Strategy and Portfolio Management. Allan Wehnert has close to 30 years of experience from leading positions in the pharmaceutical industry. His career in the industry began at Janssen followed by close to 20 years at Lundbeck where he has led Clinical Research and R&D project management, and been head of business development and portfolio management within CNS disease areas.
"We are delighted to welcome Allan Wehnert to Initiator Pharma. Allan has extensive experience in CNS pharmaceuticals and a strategic mindset matched very well with our ambition of continuously building an organization capable of generating value for our clinical and preclinical assets", says Initiator Pharma's CEO Claus Elsborg Olesen.
Initiator Pharma's Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board (SCAB) has been initiated by engaging Sexual Medicine experts Dr. Irwin Goldstein, and Mrs. Sue Goldstein.
Dr. Irwin Goldstein graduated from McGill University Faculty of Medicine in Montreal, Canada. He was a faculty member at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) for 25 years where he was Professor of Urology and Gynecology and founding Director of the former Institute for Sexual Medicine at BUSM. He is today the director of San Diego Sexual Medicine, where he maintains his clinical practice, Director of Sexual Medicine at Alvarado Hospital and Clinical Professor of Surgery at University of California at San Diego. He is furthermore the Editor-in Chief of Sexual Medicine Reviews and founding editor of The Journal of Sexual Medicine, both official journals of the International Society for Sexual Medicine. Dr. Goldstein has had a long career providing medical help to those with sexual problems, having been involved with sexual dysfunction research since the late 1970′s.
Mrs. Sue Goldstein is an AASECT certified sexuality educator and certified clinical research coordinator. She serves as clinical research manager and program coordinator for San Diego Sexual Medicine, where she is site manager for clinical trials, responsible for educational programs and coordinates with the Sexual Medicine program at Alvarado Hospital. Mrs. Goldstein combines her knowledge of sexual medicine, her writing skills and her years of fund-raising for non-profit organizations in this position to create educational programs for health care clinicians, industry and the public while raising funds to support The Institute for Sexual Medicine, Inc, a charitable corporation dedicated to research and education in the field.
"We are truly honored to have Irwin and Sue Goldstein in our SCAB. They are both renowned sexual medicine key opinion leaders and they will top most short lists of who is who in Sexual Medicine. I am really looking forward to have access to their advice based on their vast experience from the field", says Claus Elsborg Olesen.
The strengthening in the clinical research area through the new appointment, and the initiation of a Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board, is a direct result of Initiator Pharma's progress in clinical development of the company's lead assets IPED2015 and IP2018.
IPED2015, intended for patients with erectile dysfunction of organic origin, has demonstrated Proof-of-Concept in connection with a clinical phase IIa study in the spring of 2020. Initiator Pharma recently signed a financing agreement with UK's largest independent clinical development organization, worth up to 23 MSEK, which secures the funding of the continued Phase 2 clinical development of the candidate drug.
IP2018, intended for treatment of ED of psychogenic origin, is being evaluated in an ongoing Phase 2a clinical trial. The company has recently received a commitment from Innovation Fund Denmark to fund the trial with up to 3.8 MDKK through the Innobooster grant.
For further information about Initiator Pharma, please contact:
Claus Elsborg Olesen, CEO
Phone: +45 6126 0035
E-mail: [email protected]
The information was provided by the contact person above, to be published on December 10, 2020, at 14:30 (CET).
About Initiator Pharma
Initiator Pharma is a clinical-stage biotechnology company based in Aarhus, Denmark. The company's main clinical Phase assets are IPED2015, intended for patients with erectile dysfunction, and IP2018, for the treatment of psychogenic erectile dysfunction. The treatments both represent First in Class treatments for psychogenic and organic ED, respectively, and are expected to improve the quality of life for a growing number of patients who are not responding to or cannot be treated with existing drugs on the market. Read more on www.initiatorpharma.com.
About Erectile dysfunction (ED)
Erectile dysfunction is sexual dysfunction characterized by the inability to develop or maintain an erection of the penis during sexual activity. ED affects more than 150 million men worldwide and that number is expected to increase to more than 320 million by 2025, fuelled by aging demographics and increasing prevalence of lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, and performance anxiety. The number of ED patients is most likely grossly underestimated, particularly for Psychogenic patient segment. ED patients have decreased quality of life due to various psychosocial factors such as low self-esteem, depression, sadness, anger, frustration, anxiety, medication, and relationship problems (1,2,3). Erectile dysfunction can be divided into two main categories – Organic and Psychogenic ED – that requires different treatments. Initiator Pharma is developing IPED2015 and IP2018, respectively, for these similar but separate patient segments.
1. Shabsigh R, et al. (1998) Increased incidence of depressive symptoms in men with erectile dysfunction. Urology52(5):848-852.
2. Mccabe MP, Althof SE (2014) A systematic review of the psychosocial outcomes associated with erectile dysfunction: Does the impact of erectile dysfunction extend beyond a man's inability to have sex? J Sex Med11(2):347-363.
3. Nguyen HMT, Gabrielson AT, Hellstrom WJG (2017) Erectile Dysfunction in Young Men-A Review of the Prevalence and Risk Factors. Sex Med Rev5(4):508-520.