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Genizon BioSciences

Genizon BioSciences Restructures for Growth & Additional Downstream Capabilities

Montreal (ots/PRNewswire)

Genizon BioSciences today announced
the appointment of six key scientists within the company.
Tim Keith, Ph.D., has joined the company as Vice President and
Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Keith, former Head of the Human
Genetics Group at Genome Therapeutics (now Oscient Pharmaceuticals),
has 18 years of experience in the biotechnology industry where she
has played critical roles in disease gene discovery, pathway analysis
and licensing negotiation. Other senior managers joining Genizon from
Genome Therapeutics are Randall Little, Ph.D., Executive Director,
Computational Biology and Paul Van Eerdewegh, Ph.D., Senior Director,
Statistical Genetics. Drs. Keith, Van Eerdewegh and Little were all
instrumental in the discovery of the ADAM33 gene associated with
asthma and the successful execution of several pharmaceutical
alliances. Together, this team has published over 100 peer-reviewed
articles in the areas of disease gene discovery and human genetics.
Also joining the company from Genome Therapeutics is Jonathan Segal,
who will take on the role of Senior Scientific Software Engineer,
Bioinformatics and Statistical Genetics. Mr. Segal was one of the
lead creators of software developed for complex disease gene and
target discovery.
In recognition of their significant contribution to the scientific
advancement of Genizon, Dr. Majid Belouchi has been appointed Vice
President and Chief Technology Officer, and Dr. John Raelson has been
appointed Chief Geneticist. Both are founders of the company.
"We are extremely pleased to acquire this outstanding scientific
team with a proven track record in disease gene discovery," said Dr.
John Hooper, President and CEO of Genizon BioSciences. "When combined
with our founding scientists, Genizon now has tremendous capability
in the construction of GeneMaps for common diseases and in the
identification of targets for therapeutic development."
Dr. Keith added "Paul, Randall, Jonathan and I are excited about
the opportunity to join Genizon BioSciences. Genizon has collected
tremendous population resources, utilizing the Quebec Founder
Population, for more than 20 diseases and has built a strong
infrastructure to support gene discovery efforts. The recent
completion of two landmark studies, one of the first genome-wide
association studies for complex disease as well as the first
genome-wide linkage disequilibrium map for a human population,
demonstrates the power of the association approach using a founder
population. Coupled with downstream capabilities in target
identification and validation, I believe Genizon is well positioned
to become a global leader in the discovery of novel targets for
therapeutic development."
About Genizon BioSciences Inc.
Genizon BioSciences (www.genizon.com) is a biotechnology company
dedicated to the discovery of GeneMaps and biomarkers associated with
the root cause of common diseases and drug response. GeneMaps are
groups of disease genes that define the key biochemical pathways for
common diseases. Through the discovery of GeneMaps, Genizon and
partners will accelerate the identification of new and better
therapeutic targets, validation of these targets and downstream
development of innovative new therapeutics and diagnostics.
Additionally, Genizon's pharmacogenomics capability to stratify
patient populations and evaluate drug response further accelerates
the clinical development of drug candidates. Genizon has initiated
more than 20 GeneMap discovery programs in several major therapeutic
areas, including autoimmune, inflammation, metabolic, CNS,
respiratory, gastrointestinal, ophthalmology, dermatology, and
women's health. Genizon's research relies on DNA sampling from the
Quebec Founder Population, whose extensive genetic sharing and low
genetic variability make this population ideal for gene discovery. In
recognition of the contribution to Genizon's research made by the
population of Quebec, the company has committed to donate three per
cent of its net profits to a foundation for the benefit of Quebecers.

Contact:

For further information: Dr. Bill Cheliak, Vice President, Business
Development, Genizon BioSciences, +1-613-261-9813,
bill.cheliak@genizon.com .