Aethlon Medical Appoints Jeff Schorey and Wayne Comper to Exosome Sciences Advisory Board
15 Dezember 2009 - 3:30PM
PR Newswire (US)
SAN DIEGO, Dec. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aethlon Medical, Inc.
(OTC Bulletin Board : AEMD) announced today that Dr. Jeff Schorey
and Dr. Wayne Comper have joined the Science Advisory Board of
Exosome Sciences, Inc. (ESI). Both Dr. Schorey and Dr. Comper are
leading researchers in the exosome field. ESI, a wholly owned
subsidiary of Aethlon Medical, was recently formed to leverage the
discovery that the Hemopurifier®, a medical device being advanced
as an adjunct therapy for Hepatitis-C (HCV) and other viral
pathogens, is capable of capturing exosomes secreted by solid
tumors, lymphomas, and leukemia to suppress the immune response in
cancer patients. The targeted removal of circulating exosomes to
inhibit cancer related immune suppression could increase patient
responsiveness to both immunotherapy and chemotherapy. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090325/LA88762LOGO-b) About
Dr. Jeff Schorey Dr. Schorey is presently an Associate Professor in
the Department of Biological Sciences and Associate Director of the
Eck Institute for Global Health at the University of Notre Dame.
Dr. Schorey has over 15 years of experience in mycobacterial
research and has published over 35 peer reviewed publications on
mycobacteria pathogenesis. He presently has two NIH RO1 grants in
excess of $2.5 million to study mycobacteria-host cell interaction.
His recent work on exosomes has been published in such highly
respected journals as the Journal of Biological Sciences, Blood and
PloS ONE and in 2008 he published a review on exosomes in the
journal Traffic. His work was the first to demonstrate that
exosomes released from M.tb-infected macrophages can stimulate
macrophage activation and more recently has shown that exosomes can
promote activation of naive T cells in vivo. He is a leader in this
area of research. In April 2009, he was the recipient of a Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation grant to study exosomes as a potential TB
vaccine. He received one of only 81 grants funded from over 3,000
applicants. Dr. Schorey's recent work on exosomes released from TB
infected macrophages has demonstrated that these exosomes
containing antigenic components of tuberculosis can be utilized for
efficient antigen presentation and could provide a practical
strategy in the development of a vaccine for TB. About Dr. Wayne
Comper Dr. Comper is one of the founders, Director and Chief
Science Officer of Exosome Diagnostics, Inc. Prior to Exosome
Diagnostics, Dr. Comper was Chief Science Officer of AusAm
Biotechnologies, Inc., a biotechnology company developing
diagnostics and therapeutics to identify and treat kidney,
cardiovascular and infectious diseases. Between 1991 and 2004, Dr.
Comper was Reader of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Monash
University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia. From 1974 to 1976, Dr.
Comper was a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University Medical
School in Chicago. From 1976 to 1978, he was a visiting scientist
in the Department of Medical and Physiological Chemistry, Uppsala
University, Sweden. In 1988, he was a Visiting Professor,
Nephrology Section, Rush Medical School, Chicago, Illinois. He is
the recipient of the 1992 Silver Jubilee Prize for Research at
Monash University, where he also holds a Doctor of Science Degree.
He has published over 170 research articles in peer-reviewed
international journals. His research has attracted grants from the
National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, the
Diabetes Foundation of Australia, The Australian Kidney Foundation
and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International. Dr. Comper and
his team at Exosome Diagnostics are studying biomarkers, including
genetic signatures created by microRNAs and mRNA within exosomes
isolated from cancer patients. These genetic signatures created by
the cancer exosomes could be critical in developing companion
molecular diagnostics tests for tailoring personalized cancer
therapy. About Aethlon Medical Aethlon Medical, Inc. creates
diagnostic and therapeutic device solutions for infectious disease
and cancer. Our lead product, the Hemopurifier® is the
first-in-class medical device to selectively capture circulating
viruses and immunosuppressive proteins prior to cell and organ
infection. Human studies have documented the ability of our
Hemopurifier® to reduce viral load in patients infected with
Hepatitis-C virus (HCV) and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
Our primary clinical and commercialization focus is to establish
the Hemopurifier® as an adjunct therapy to enhance and prolong the
benefit of traditional infectious disease drug regimens. The
Hemopurifier® is also a broad-spectrum treatment candidate against
drug resistant bioterror and pandemic threats. Third party research
institutes have verified the capability of the device to capture
Dengue Hemorrhagic Virus, Ebola Hemorrhagic Virus, Lassa
Hemorrhagic Virus, West Nile Virus, H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus,
2009 H1N1 Influenza Virus, the reconstructed Spanish Flu of 1918
Virus, and Monkeypox Virus, which serves as a model for human
Smallpox infection. Our wholly owned subsidiary, Exosome Sciences,
Inc. (ESI) was formed in October of 2009 to leverage attributes of
the Hemopurifier® in the emerging exosome research field. ESI seeks
to inhibit the immune cell destruction caused by exosomes secreted
by solid tumors, lymphomas, and leukemia. At present, the capture
of immunosuppressive exosomes secreted from ovarian cancer tumors
has been demonstrated invitro. The preservation of anti-cancer
immune cells would likely improve patient responsiveness to
established treatment options, including immunotherapy and
chemotherapy. ESI is also analyzing exosome-related opportunities
to improve early cancer detection and post-surgery surveillance of
tumor growth, as well as approaches to harvest exosomes for
research purposes and potential reintroduction into patients
afflicted with autoimmune conditions such as Rheumatoid Arthritis
and Lupus. Additional information regarding Aethlon Medical and
Exosome Sciences can be accessed online at
http://www.aethlonmedical.com/. Certain of the statements herein
may be forward-looking and involve risks and uncertainties. Such
forward-looking statements involve assumptions, known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual
results, performance or achievements of Aethlon Medical, Inc. to be
materially different from any future results, performance, or
achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking
statements. Such potential risks and uncertainties include, without
limitation, the capability of the Hemopurifier® to reduce viral
loads and other disease conditions or to identify disease
conditions such as cancer, including the ability to capture
exosomes and the impact that potential ability may have on disease
conditions, the Company's ability to raise capital when needed, the
Company's ability to complete the development of its planned
products, the ability of the Company to obtain FDA and other
regulatory approvals permitting the sale of its products, the
Company's ability to manufacture its products and provide its
services, the impact of government regulations, patent protection
on the Company's proprietary technology, product liability
exposure, uncertainty of market acceptance, competition,
technological change, and other risk factors. In such instances,
actual results could differ materially as a result of a variety of
factors, including the risks associated with the effect of changing
economic conditions and other risk factors detailed in the
Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Contacts:
RedChip Companies, Inc. Jon Cunningham 1-800-733-2447, Ext. 107 Jim
Joyce Chairman, CEO 858.459.7800 x301 Jim Frakes Senior VP Finance
858.459.7800 x300
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090325/LA88762LOGO-b
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Aethlon Medical, Inc.
CONTACT: Jim Joyce, Chairman, CEO, +1-858-459-7800, ext. 301, , or
Jim Frakes, Senior VP Finance, +1-858-459-7800, ext. 300, , both of
Aethlon Medical, Inc.; or Jon Cunningham of RedChip Companies,
Inc., 1-800-733-2447, ext. 107, for Aethlon Medical, Inc. Web Site:
http://www.aethlonmedical.com/
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