Veru Announces New Scientific Advisory Board for its Enobosarm Program for High Quality Weight Loss

MIAMI, Feb. 20, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Veru Inc. (NASDAQ: VERU), a late clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative medicines for preserving muscle for higher quality weight loss, oncology, and viral induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), today announced the formation of a new Scientific Advisory Board to support the advancement of enobosarm, an oral novel selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM), to avoid muscle loss and augment fat loss when combined with a Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) drugs for potentially higher quality weight loss. The Scientific Advisory Board brings deep and complementary knowledge in metabolic diseases, obesity, weight management, muscle preservation and physical function in addition to significant experience in clinical research and in drug development.

“We are pleased to announce the addition of such an esteemed group of experts to our new Scientific Advisory Board,” said Mitchell Steiner, M.D., Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Veru Inc. “All of these experts in obesity and muscle share our vision and goal to develop enobosarm as a drug candidate that may potentially enhance quality weight loss for obese or overweight patients by preferentially increasing fat loss while preserving muscle. We know that all of them will make valuable contributions to guide the enobosarm development program.”

The members of Veru’s new Scientific Advisory Board are:

Dr. Caroline M. Apovian
Caroline M. Apovian, MD, FACP, FTOS, DABOM is Co-Director of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness (CWMW) in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Hypertension at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. For over thirty years, Dr. Apovian has held a position at the forefront of the obesity and nutrition fields. One of the world’s premier weight management experts, she has distinguished herself as a leading researcher, healthcare provider, teacher, and New York Times bestselling author. In collaboration with the Divisions of Gastroenterology and Metabolic Surgery, the CWMW will offer comprehensive, multidisciplinary care for patients seeking weight loss. Under Dr. Apovian’s direction, the Endocrinology arm of the Center will specialize in the assessment and treatment of obesity and its comorbidities. Nationally, she is one of the founding creators of the American Board of Obesity Medicine which provides certification and recognition for physicians who have specialized knowledge and training in the practice of obesity medicine. Her current research interests are weight change and its effects on adipose tissue metabolism and inflammation, obesity and cardiovascular disease, resolution of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the bariatric surgery population, disparities in the treatment of obesity in underserved populations, and novel pharmacotherapeutic agents for the treatment of obesity. She is also an expert in sampling subcutaneous adipose tissue and muscle tissue in humans and has been studying the relationship between adipose tissue inflammation and obesity for over 15 years. Dr. Apovian has published over ten books and over 200 peer-reviewed original research and review articles on obesity and nutrition. Dr. Apovian was a member of the expert panel for updating the 2013 AHA/ACC/TOS Clinical Guidelines for the Management of Overweight and Obesity in Adults, published in the Circulation and Obesity journals and was the Chair of the Endocrine Society Guidelines for Medical Treatment of Obesity published in the Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism in 2015. She is a former Nutrition Consultant for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Dr. Apovian has given over 200 invited lectures nationally and internationally and served as President of The Obesity Society in 2017-2018. She is also a past Co-Director for the NIH-funded Boston Nutrition and Obesity Research Center.