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In commenting on this appointment Martin D. Cleary, President and CEO of Juvaris said, "It is with great pleasure that we welcome John to Juvaris. John will play the lead role in moving Juvaris' technology towards commercialization. His extensive experience in the development of therapeutic vaccines for cancer and infectious diseases, as well as his track record of successful management of immunotherapy and gene therapy programs, will be instrumental in advancing Juvaris' development of potent therapeutic vaccines based on the JuvImmune lipid-DNA complexes. To have captured the interest and commitment of an executive with John's comprehensive and outstanding track record in both research and product development speaks volumes for the depth and promise of our program." Juvaris BioTherapeutics was created in 2002 to develop immunotherapeutic treatments for infectious diseases and cancer using lipid-DNA complexes. The DNA in these complexes does not code for protein; instead, through a synergistic effect of being complexed with lipids, it strongly stimulates the immune system. In preclinical studies, these complexes have been shown to be up to 50-times more potent at triggering innate immune activation and interferon release than the best current immune stimulants. Research conducted at Juvaris BioTherapeutics, the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, Colorado and Colorado State University has also demonstrated that this system, when combined with antigens, produces extremely effective disease-specific vaccines. In commenting on the appointment, Dr. Warner said, "I am very impressed with the potent immune activation induced by the Juvaris technology platform. The level of immune induction of both the innate and adaptive immune responses exhibited by the Juvaris products will be very appropriate for the development of therapeutic vaccines for chronic diseases such as cancer and AIDS. Juvaris BioTherapeutics has established a comprehensive array of pre-clinical data attesting to the quality and depth of the science developed by the company's founders. I believe this technology will play a major role in treating a number of disease indications. Furthermore, the immediate action and potency exhibited by the Juvaris JuvImmune technology should lend itself quite well to the development of useful anti-bioterrorism agents. I am very excited to be involved in this important therapeutic vaccine product development program as part of the Juvaris team." Dr. Warner most recently completed a three-year association with Collateral Therapeutics, Inc. as Vice President of Research and Technology advancing their cardiovascular gene therapy and cardiomics programs. Prior to Collateral Therapeutics, Dr. Warner held VP-level positions at Valentis, Inc. and Inex Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Dr. Warner was previously affiliated with Chiron-Viagene (formerly Viagene, Inc.) for eight years (1988-1995) where he served in various supervisory positions including Director, Immunobiology as well as Head of the HIV immunotherapeutic program. This work resulted in the initiation of one of the first gene therapy genetic immunization phase II clinical trials for HIV patients. Dr. Warner was also a Senior Scientist at the Johnson & Johnson Biotechnology Center from 1985 to 1988, developing synthetic peptide vaccines. Dr. Warner's scientific training includes five years as a postdoctoral fellow at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the University of California, San Diego involved in the study of innate immune effector systems (cytokines and natural killer cells) and adaptive immune responses (cellular and humoral). Dr. Warner earned his Ph.D. in microbiology/immunology from the State University of New York, Buffalo. About Juvaris BioTherapeutics Contact: Martin D. Cleary of Juvaris BioTherapeutics Inc.,
1-925-399-6200, mdcleary@juvaris.com;
or media, Anette Breindl, Ph.D. of Atkins + Associates, 1-858-527-3489,
abreindl@irpr.com, for Juvaris
BioTherapeutics, Inc.
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