Renovis has received two milestone payments from AstraZeneca in connection with the advancement of Cerovive (NXY-059) into two Phase III clinical trials for acute ischemic stroke, now known as the SAINT (Stroke Acute Ischemic NXY Treatment) Trials. The SAINT Trials are comparing the effects of NXY-059 against placebo on disability and neurological recovery in acute ischemic stroke patients. Cerovive is a nitrone with free radical trapping capabilities that is licensed to AstraZeneca. The trials are designed to include more than 3,000 patients in more than 300 centers across Europe, the United States, Canada, Asia, Australia, South America, and South Africa. Under its agreement with AstraZeneca, Renovis will receive additional milestone payments based on the successful development of NXY-059 and royalties on worldwide sales of the drug.
Renovis also announced two recent additions to its management team. Dushyant Pathak, joined Renovis as Vice President of Program Management and Corporate Development from Centaur Pharmaceuticals, where he served as Senior Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Planning. Prior to Centaur, Dr. Pathak, 41, served as Senior Director of Corporate Development at Axys Pharmaceuticals and worked in strategic planning at Chiron. Michael G. Kelly, 49, was promoted to Vice President of Drug Discovery from his role as Senior Director of Chemistry at Renovis. Dr. Kelly brings decades of experience in drug discovery from Amgen, Wyeth, and GSK and has spearheaded the rapid advancement of Renovis' drug development activities since joining the Company earlier this year.
"AstraZeneca's initiation of the pivotal Phase III trials of Cerovive, and these recent additions to our management team bring Renovis two steps closer to realizing its goal of becoming a profitable, fully integrated biopharmaceutical company," said Corey S. Goodman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Renovis. "The team at Renovis is now focused on the next steps toward reaching that goal, which are initiating a Phase IIb clinical trial with REN-1654 in neuropathic pain and a Phase I trial with REN-213 in acute post-operative pain before the end of 2003."