Richard Gabriel, BS, MBA is a board member of Precision Therapeutics and spearheaded the licensing of new technologies for 3D cell culturing from 48 Hour Discovery, SyntArray and CellBridge
MINNEAPOLIS, April 09, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Precision Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:AIPT) (“Precision” or “the Company”), formerly Skyline Medical, a company focused on applying artificial intelligence to personalized medicine and drug discovery, announced today that it has engaged Richard Gabriel as a consultant to lead the external business development strategy for TumorGenesis, Inc., its wholly-owned subsidiary. In this role, Richard will work closely with TumorGenesis’s newly appointed President, Dr. Mark Collins.
Richard Gabriel, BS, MBA, is an experienced consultant to early stage healthcare companies and has been a board member of Precision Therapeutics since 2016. Mr. Gabriel will continue to serve as a board member for Precision Therapeutics in addition to providing consulting services to TumorGenesis. Mr. Gabriel has spearheaded TumorGenesis’s licensing of new technologies from 48 Hour Discovery, SyntArray and CellBridge for 3D cell culturing. Together, these ground-breaking technologies are expected to advance the development of the next generation of patient derived tumor models for precision cancer therapy and drug development, with an initial focus on ovarian cancer.
“Ovarian cancer cells from one patient can be different in another patient; however, one consistent fact about cancer cells is that they fool our immune systems into behaving as if nothing was wrong, thereby evading the immune system response. Our aim is to combine the separate technologies (48 Hour Discovery, SyntArray and CellBridge) into one system that fools the cancer cells into behaving as if they were still in the patient. This will enable drug developers to test drugs in a model system that closely mimics the way a tumor grows in the body, which is expected to optimize clinical trial outcomes and advance the development of personalized therapies,” commented Richard Gabriel, Head of External Business Development at TumorGenesis.
“With the appointment of Mr. Gabriel, we are moving quickly to validate our new TumorGenesis technology in a clinical setting with the help of pathologists and oncologists and, of course, patients. We will then be able to screen larger combinations of drugs, using this ‘cell capture, culture and screen’ process by partnering with Helomics’ CLIA laboratory and other oncology labs around the world to deliver a better outcome for patients,” commented Dr Mark Collins, President of TumorGenesis Inc.
Dr. Carl Schwartz, CEO of Precision Therapeutics, commented, “We are focused on bringing together cutting-edge technologies and a first class leadership team as we build TumorGenesis into a crucial partner to the precision medicine industry. Richard has a proven track record in both entrepreneurial and public-company settings, and we are pleased to engage him as the Head of External Business Development for TumorGenesis. Since he became a board member for Precision Therapeutics, he has been instrumental in securing several technology licenses for TumorGenesis to advance its development of next generation PDx tumor model and has provided invaluable strategic counsel.”
Mr. Gabriel has served as Partner, Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of GLG Pharma, LLC, since 2009. GLG Pharma is a Jupiter, Florida company that is developing small molecule drugs and diagnostic technology packages for the treatment of cancer.
GLG Pharma has a partnership with Precision Therapeutics and Helomics focused on using their combined technologies to bring a personalized, precision medicine approach to ovarian and breast cancer patients. The partnership will build on the Company’s STREAMWAY System to add a collection system for ascites fluids based on GLG’s Capture, Culture and Screening system, that pathologists can then process and send to Helomics for further evaluation in using Helomics’ Precision Oncology Insights platform. Together with a combination of STAT3 inhibitors from GLG, the partnership is expected to create new revenue streams to be shared between Precision Therapeutics, Helomics and GLG.
For more information on Richard Gabriel, his biography can be found on the Company’s website at
https://www.skylinemedical.com/about-skyline/board-of-directors/
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About Precision Therapeutics Inc.
Precision Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AIPT) operates in two business areas: first, applying artificial intelligence to personalized medicine and drug discovery to provide personalized medicine solutions for clients in the pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and biotech industries, and second, production of the FDA-approved STREAMWAY® System for automated, direct-to-drain medical fluid disposal.
Precision Therapeutics’ CRO services business is committed to improving the effectiveness of cancer therapy using the power of artificial intelligence (AI) applied to rich data diseases databases. This business has launched with Precision Therapeutics’ investment in Helomics Corporation, a precision diagnostic company and integrated clinical contract research organization whose mission is to improve patient care by partnering with pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and academic organizations to bring innovative clinical products and technologies to the marketplace. In addition to its proprietary precision diagnostics for oncology, Helomics offers boutique CRO services that leverage our patient-derived tumor models, coupled to a wide range of multi-omics assays (genomics, proteomics and biochemical), and a proprietary bioinformatics platform (D-CHIP) to provide a tailored solution to our client’s specific needs. Helomics is 25% owned by Precision Therapeutics. Helomics® is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where the company maintains state-of-the-art, CLIA-certified, clinical and research laboratories. For more information, please visit www.Helomics.com.
Precision Therapeutics has also announced the formation of a subsidiary, TumorGenesis to pursue a new rapid approach to growing tumors in the laboratory, which essentially “fools” the cancer cells into thinking they are still growing inside the patient. Precision Therapeutics and Helomics have also announced a proposed joint venture with GLG Pharma focused on using their combined technologies to bring personalized medicines and testing to ovarian and breast cancer patients, especially those who present with ascites fluid (over one-third of patients). The growth strategy in this business includes securing new partnerships and considering acquisitions in the precision medicine space.
Sold through the Skyline Medical business of Precision Therapeutics, The STREAMWAY System virtually eliminates staff exposure to blood, irrigation fluid and other potentially infectious fluids found in the healthcare environment. Antiquated manual fluid handling methods that require hand carrying and emptying filled fluid canisters present an exposure risk and potential liability. Skyline Medical’s STREAMWAY System fully automates the collection, measurement, and disposal of waste fluids and is designed to: 1) reduce overhead costs to hospitals and surgical centers; 2) improve compliance with OSHA and other regulatory agency safety guidelines; 3) improve efficiency in the operating room, and radiology and endoscopy departments, thereby leading to greater profitability; and 4) provide greater environmental stewardship by helping to eliminate the approximately 50 million potentially disease-infected canisters that go into landfills each year in the U.S. For additional information, please visit www.skylinemedical.com.
Forward-looking Statements
Certain of the matters discussed in this announcement contain forward-looking statements that involve material risks to and uncertainties in the Company’s business that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the statements made herein. Such risks and uncertainties include risks related to our partnerships with other companies, including the need to negotiate the definitive agreements; possible failure to realize anticipated benefits of these partnerships; and costs of providing funding to our partner companies, which may never be repaid or provide anticipated returns. Other risks and uncertainties relating to the Company include, among other things, current negative operating cash flows and a need for additional funding to finance our operating plan; the terms of any further financing, which may be highly dilutive and may include onerous terms; unexpected costs and operating deficits, and lower than expected sales and revenues; sales cycles that can be longer than expected, resulting in delays in projected sales or failure to make such sales; uncertain willingness and ability of customers to adopt new technologies and other factors that may affect further market acceptance, if our product is not accepted by our potential customers, it is unlikely that we will ever become profitable; adverse economic conditions; adverse results of any legal proceedings; the volatility of our operating results and financial condition; inability to attract or retain qualified senior management personnel, including sales and marketing personnel; our ability to establish and maintain the proprietary nature of our technology through the patent process, as well as our ability to possibly license from others patents and patent applications necessary to develop products; the Company’s ability to implement its long range business plan for various applications of its technology; the Company’s ability to enter into agreements with any necessary marketing and/or distribution partners and with any strategic or joint venture partners; the impact of competition, the obtaining and maintenance of any necessary regulatory clearances applicable to applications of the Company’s technology; and management of growth and other risks and uncertainties that may be detailed from time to time in the Company’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available for review at www.sec.gov. This is not a solicitation to buy or sell securities and does not purport to be an analysis of the Company’s financial position. See the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and subsequent reports and other filings at www.sec.gov.