ProMIS Neurosciences Announces Appointment of Ernest Bush as Head of Pharmacology/Toxicology and Russell Blacher as Head of Manufacturing

Both new appointees bring over 30 years of successful drug development experience

TORONTO and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ProMIS Neurosciences, a company focused on the discovery and development of precision treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, today announced the appointment of Ernest D. Bush to the position of Head of Pharmacology/Toxicology and Russell Blacher to the position of Head of Manufacturing. These positions report to both Gene Williams, Executive Chairman and Elliot Goldstein, CEO of ProMIS Neurosciences.  Dr. Bush and Mr. Blacher will support the design and execution of key late preclinical activities required for clinical trial initiation of lead therapeutic candidate, PMN310.  

"We are pleased to welcome Russ Blacher and Ernie Bush to the ProMIS senior team. Both Ernie and Russ bring broad and rich experience and expertise in two critical areas of drug development: product safety/toxicology and manufacturing, respectively. Their appointments add significant value to the ProMIS team in preparing for the 2019 anticipated clinical trial initiation of PMN310, our lead program for Alzheimer's disease, and for planned regulatory submissions," said ProMIS President and CEO, Dr. Elliot Goldstein. "We are delighted to have Russ and Ernie join the team as we advance our Alzheimer's program selectively targeting toxic oligomers of amyloid beta, known to be a root cause of Alzheimer's."

About Ernest D. Bush, PhD. 
Dr. Bush has 35 years of experience working in the field of biomedical R&D, driving development of innovative therapies for treatment of human diseases. He has served as a consultant in non-clinical development providing advice and insight into IND enabling programs, pre-clinical data-set analysis for due diligence and prioritization of investment decisions, and evaluation and audits of GLP bioanalytical and toxicology facilities and studies. In recent years, Dr. Bush has served as Chief Scientific Officer at Akashi Therapeutics, Inc., providing expertise to the development of drugs in Duchene Muscular Dystrophy. In previous positions, Dr. Bush worked as Senior Research Director and Head of Non-Clinical Drug Safety at Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc. where among other duties he led the assembly and review of preclinical data packages for all potential in-licensing and acquisition drug candidates and companies. He has utilized this experience to help small pharmaceutical companies and non-profit patient advocacy organizations plan and execute strategies to move them forward expeditiously and cost-effectively. Dr. Bush received his PhD. in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Washington, and an MS in Chemistry and a BA in General Sciences from the University of Oregon.