Scinai Immunotherapeutics Congratulates its Co-Lead Scientific Research Collaborator Dirk Görlich on Louis-Jeantet Prize
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL – Jan. 25, 2024 - Scinai Immunotherapeutics Ltd. (Nasdaq: SCNI), a biopharmaceutical company focused on development of inflammation and immunology (I&I) biological products, congratulates the Company’s co-lead scientific research collaborator Professor Dr. Dirk Görlich on being awarded the 2024 Louis-Jeantet Prize. Established in 1986, the prestigious CHF 500,000 (US$ 576,000) prize is awarded annually to European-based researchers in recognition of groundbreaking work in the field of biomedicine.
Görlich serves as a director of the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences (MPI-NAT). In close collaboration with Scinai, the teams led by Görlich and Prof. Dr. Matthias Dobbelstein of the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG), lead discovery of nanosized VHH antibodies (NanoAbs), which form the basis of Scinai’s innovative, de-risked, pipeline targeting inflammation and immunology (I&I) biological therapeutic diseases. A recently completed ex-vivo study indicated the potential of Scinai’s anti-IL-17 NanoAb to effectively and conveniently treat mild to moderate plaque psoriasis. These results followed earlier proof-of-concept in-vivo studies indicating the potential of inhaled NanoAbs to treat and prevent infectious viral respiratory disease. Those results were reported in an article published in the prestigious scientific journal Antiviral Research and co-authored by Görlich, Dobbelstein, and Scinai’s CSO Dr. Tamar Ben-Yedidia, among others.
According to MPI-NAT, Görlich has received several other scientific awards including the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize, the EMBO Gold Medal, the Alfried Krupp Prize, the WLA Prize 2022, and the Animal Welfare Research Prize of the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
Amir Reichman, Scinai’s CEO, commented, “On behalf of Scinai’s team, I offer sincere congratulations to Dirk on being awarded the 2024 Louis-Jeantet Prize. The award provides significant evidence of the creativity, professionalism, and elite scientific acumen of the scientist leading the discovery of our pipeline of innovative NanoAb-based therapeutic products.”
According to MPI-NAT, Görlich was awarded the prize for “discovering a new kind of biological matter that acts as a highly selective barrier to control central transport pathways in the cell,” and “groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of the processes by which macromolecules are transported into and out of the cell nucleus.”
About Scinai: Scinai Immunotherapeutics Ltd. (Nasdaq: SCNI) is a biopharmaceutical company with two complementary business units, one focused on in-house development of inflammation and immunology (I&I) biological therapeutic products beginning with an innovative, de-risked, pipeline of nanosized VHH antibodies (NanoAbs) targeting diseases with large unmet medical needs, and the other a boutique CDMO providing biological drug development, analytical methods development, clinical GMP manufacturing, and pre-clinical and clinical trial design and execution services to early stage biotech companies. Company website: www.scinai.com.
Company Contact: Joshua Phillipson | +972 8 930 2529 | joshua.phillipson@scinai.com
Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "expect," "believe," "intend," "plan," "continue," "may," "will," "anticipate," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release regarding strategy, future operations, future financial position, future revenue, projected expenses, prospects, plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. Examples of such statements include, but are not limited to, the potential of Scinai’s anti-IL-17 NanoAb. These forward-looking statements reflect management's current views with respect to certain current and future events and are subject to various risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause the results to differ materially from those expected by the management of Scinai Immunotherapeutics Ltd. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risk of delay in, or Scinai’s inability to conduct, its research and development activities, including the contemplated in-vivo and toxicology studies and a clinical trial; the risk that Scinai will not remain listed on Nasdaq; the risk that Scinai will not be successful in growing its CDMO business or in-license other NanoAbs; the risk that Scinai may not be able to secure additional capital on attractive terms, if at all; the risk that the therapeutic and commercial potential of NanoAbs will not be met; the risk of a delay in the preclinical and clinical trials data for NanoAbs, if any; the risk that our business strategy may not be successful; the risk that the European Investment Bank (EIB) may accelerate the financial facility under its finance contract with Scinai; Scinai's ability to acquire rights to additional product opportunities; Scinai's ability to enter into collaborations on terms acceptable to Scinai or at all; timing of receipt of regulatory approval of Scinai’s manufacturing facility in Jerusalem, if at all or when required; the risk that the manufacturing facility will not be able to be used for a wide variety of applications and other vaccine and treatment technologies; and the risk that drug development involves a lengthy and expensive process with uncertain outcomes. More detailed information about the risks and uncertainties affecting the Company is contained under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on April 17, 2023, and the Company’s subsequent filings with the SEC. Scinai undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement for any reason.