Mitobridge, Inc.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- OcuSciences, a medical device company developing ocular imagers to detect early disease by assessing retinal metabolic activity, today announced the addition of Michael Patane, PhD, to its Board of Directors. Dr. Patane brings over 25 years of drug discovery and development experience, with a proven track record of leadership in startup, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Many of these roles included ophthalmic product creation and development. Most recently, Dr. Patane served as the President of Mitobridge, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Astellas. In this role, he successfully oversaw all operations and played a pivotal role in shaping the company's vision and strategy, ultimately leading to significant achievements, including a Series A financing of $45MM, a strategic alliance with Astellas totaling $30MM non-dilutive, and the company's acquisition by Astellas for $450MM. Dr. Patane's experience extends beyond Mitobridge, having served as the Chief Scientific Officer of Eyegate Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (now Kiora Pharmaceuticals), where he focused on discovering and developing ocular therapeutics utilizing a proprietary iontophoresis system. Prior to Eyegate, Dr. Patane held key positions such as Director of Global Discovery Chemistry at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research and Director of Medicinal Chemistry at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, where he led drug discovery efforts in the fields of oncology and metabolic diseases. "We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Michael Patane to our Board of Directors," said Kurt Riegger, CEO at OcuSciences. "His wealth of experience in ophthalmic drug discovery and development, coupled with his knowledge and expertise in mitochondria, will undoubtedly strengthen our strategic vision and contribute to the continued success of OcuSciences." “OcuSciences is at a very exciting time in its history as it builds momentum around its novel and patented retinal disease detection modality,” said Dr. Michael Patane. “I am honored to join this Board and look forward to working with my fellow directors and senior management to help OcuSciences advance the development and commercialization of its transformative retinal imaging devices.” About OcuSciences, Inc. OcuSciences, Inc., is a commercial-stage biotechnology company developing retinal imagers to identify metabolic dysfunction occurring in the retina for the early detection of disease. Its flagship device, the OcuMet Beacon, has been developed to automatically and non-invasively assess retinal metabolic function by detecting the degree of flavoprotein fluorescence (FPF), a well-studied precursor to retinal cell death, in a patient’s eye. OcuSciences has shown preliminary clinical utility in a number of different disease states, including diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration. Learn more at .

FORT WORTH, Texas, Nov. 30, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TFF Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: TFFP), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative drug products based on its patented Thin Film Freezing (TFF) technology platform, today announced the appointment of Michael Patane, Ph.D., to its Board of Directors. “I am pleased to welcome Dr. Patane to our Board of Directors,” said Harlan Weisman, M.D., Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TFF Pharmaceuticals. “Mike’s career spans over two decades of leadership experience in drug discovery and development, and he has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to turn scientific success into corporate achievements. His depth of experience and insights will clearly be significant assets to our Board, as we continue to advance our two clinical candidates, TFF VORI and TFF TAC, while seeking to maximize the value of our Thin Film Freezing technology platform.” “I am happy to join Harlan and his fellow Board members at TFF Pharmaceuticals,” said Dr. Patane. “The team at TFF has established an impressive track record, which includes advancing two clinical-stage assets utilizing their ground-breaking formulation technology, Thin Film Freezing. Optimizing drug formulations to achieve sufficient biodistribution for pharmacological activity is mission critical for the success of any drug development program. Based on earlier Phase 1 data and initial compassionate use cases, Thin Film Freezing has already demonstrated its value in the clinic, and I believe there remains significant untapped opportunity to apply this innovative technology across a broad range of drug development programs.” Dr. Patane has 25 years of drug discovery and development experience in leadership roles within start-up, biotechnology and global biopharmaceutical companies with broad therapeutic area experience. Most recently, Mike served as President of Mitobridge, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Astellas), where he oversaw all operations and represented the organization at global interfaces. As part of the pre-Series A team, Mike helped shape the Company’s vision and strategy that culminated in its Series A financing ($45MM), a strategic alliance with Astellas ($30MM non-dilutive) and the acquisition by Astellas ($450MM, $225MM upfront, $338MM currently realized) within four years. Prior to his promotion to President of Mitobridge, Mike served as the company’s Chief Scientific Officer and earlier as its Senior Vice President, Drug Discovery. Before joining Mitobridge, Mike served as Chief Scientific Officer of Eyegate Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (now Kiora Pharmaceuticals), where he was responsible for discovering and developing ocular therapeutics utilizing a proprietary iontophoresis system in combination with novel drug product formulations. Earlier in his career, Mike was a Director of Global Discovery Chemistry with Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, and prior to Novartis, he was a Director of Medicinal Chemistry with Millennium Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for oncology and metabolic diseases drug discovery. Mike began his career as a Research Fellow, Medicinal Chemistry with Merck & Co. He conducted his post-doctoral research at The Scripps Research Institute focusing on natural products synthesis. He received his Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry from the University of Southern California and his B.S. degree in chemistry from Fordham University. ABOUT TFF PHARMACEUTICALS’ THIN FILM FREEZING (TFF) TECHNOLOGY TFF Pharmaceuticals’ proprietary Thin Film Freezing (TFF) technology allows for the transformation of both existing compounds and new chemical entities into dry powder formulations exhibiting unique characteristics and benefits. The TFF process is a particle engineering process designed to generate dry powder particles with advantageous properties for inhalation, as well as parenteral, nasal, oral, topical and ocular routes of administration. The process can be used to engineer powders for direct delivery to the site of need, circumventing challenges of systemic administration and leading to improved bioavailability, faster onset of action, and improved safety and efficacy. The ability to deliver therapies directly to the target organ, such as the lung, allows TFF powders to be administered at lower doses compared to oral drugs, reducing unwanted toxicities and side effects. Laboratory data suggests the aerodynamic properties of the powders created by TFF can deliver as much as 75% of the dose to the deep lung. TFF does not introduce heat, shear stress, or other forces that can damage more complex therapeutic components, such as fragile biologics, and instead enables the reformulation of these materials into easily stored and temperature-stable dry powders, making therapeutics and vaccines more accessible for distribution worldwide. The advantages of TFF can be used to enhance traditional delivery or combined to enable next-generation pharmaceutical products. ABOUT TFF PHARMACEUTICALS TFF Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaging patented rapid freezing technology to develop and transform medicines into potent dry powder formulations for better efficacy, safety, and stability. The company’s versatile TFF technology platform has broad applicability to convert most any drug, including vaccines, small and large molecules, and biologics, into an elegant dry powder highly advantageous for inhalation, or for topical delivery to the eyes, nose and the skin. TFF Pharmaceuticals has two lead drug candidates in the clinic: TFF VORI (Voriconazole Inhalation Powder) and TFF TAC (Tacrolimus Inhalation Powder). The Company continues collaborations with a broad array of pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, and government partners to revolutionize healthcare around the globe. The TFF Platform is protected by over 170 patents issued or pending in the U.S. and internationally. To learn more about TFF Pharmaceuticals and its product candidates, visit the Company’s website at . SAFE HARBOR This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding TFF Pharmaceuticals, Inc., including, plans for releasing initial clinical data by the end of 2023 and the benefits of the Company’s TFF platform. Those forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially. Among those factors are: (i) the risk that the Company may not be able to release initial clinical data for TFF VORI and TFF TAC by the end of 2023 or, if it is able to do so, that such clinical data will be positive, (ii) the risk that the Company’s preclinical and IND enabling studies of the dry powder formulation of the universal influenza vaccine may not be successful, (iii) no drug product incorporating the TFF platform has received FDA pre-market approval or otherwise been incorporated into a commercial drug product, (iv) the Company has no current agreements or understandings with any large pharmaceutical companies for the development of a drug product incorporating the TFF Platform, and (iv) those other risks disclosed in the section “Risk Factors” included in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on November 14, 2023. TFF Pharmaceuticals cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. TFF Pharmaceuticals does not undertake, and specifically disclaims, any obligation to update or revise such statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as they occur, except as required by law. InvestorRelationsContact: Corey Davis, Ph.D. LifeSci Advisors (212) 915-2577 cdavis@lifesciadvisors.com Source: TFF Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Astellas Pharma on Thursday announced plans to expand its footprint in Massachusetts with a newly planned life sciences facility in the biotechnology hotspot of Cambridge.The new hub will contain offices and laboratories and, by 2024, occupy about 62,000 square feet of space. Astellas expects that, over time, a few hundred Boston-area employees in dealmaking, research and development roles will work at the facility. It will enable our teams to work together seamlessly and capitalize on the diverse expertise both within the company and outside our walls, said Chief Scientific Officer Yoshitsugu Shitaka, in a statement.The space will also include a home for Discovery Accelerator a startup-focused initiative Astellas hatched in 2021 that will serve as an incubator for its biotech partners.The facility is the third recent move the Japanese drugmaker has made to establish a presence in the Boston area. In 2019, the company put about $13 million into two incubators run by startup accelerator LabCentral, money earmarked for local gene and cell therapy startups. A year later, Astellas launched the Institute for Regenerative Medicine, a Westborough, Massachusetts-based hub for cell therapy research and manufacturing.Astellas has also acquired Boston-area startups Mitobridge, Ocata Therapeutics and Potenza Therapeutics.The facilitys announcement comes amidst a broader change in how Astellas conducts its research. The company recently switched CEOs amid a push for continued growth when its top-selling cancer medicine Xtandi loses patent protection. Astellas also continues to pour money into cell and gene therapy, despite some recent setbacks. Earlier this week, it invested in cell therapy developer Poseida Therapeutics.The company also opened up a research hub on the West Coast last year. '