Michael Levitt, PhD, a Recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Appointed to the Scientific Advisory Board of Akelos Inc., Biotechnology Company Developing Opioid Drug Alternatives

NEW YORK, March 27, 2019 (Newswire.com) - ​​​​​​​​Akelos Inc., a biotechnology company currently developing and commercializing a novel, non-opioid anti-hyperalgesic drug to treat chronic and neuropathic pain, adds Michael Levitt, Ph.D., of  Stanford University , to its roster of high-profile advisors.

Dr. Levitt is a biophysicist and professor of structural biology at Stanford University, a position he has held since 1987. Levitt received the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, together with Martin Karplus and Arieh Warshel, for “the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems.” Dr. Levitt was elected an EMBO Member in 1983, a Fellow of The Royal Society (FRS) in 2001, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2002. He received the DeLano Award for Computational Biosciences in 2014. He was elected an ISCB Fellow by the International Society for Computational Biology in 2015. Dr. Levitt received degrees from King’s College London (BScs) and University of Cambridge (PhD). His fields include Computational Structural Biology, Structure Determination, and Simulation of Mesoscale Molecular Dynamics. Institutions include Stanford University, Weizmann Institute of Science, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, and University of Cambridge.

"An estimated 20 million people in the United States live with chronic neuropathic pain, for which opioid medication is a common treatment. However, the unprecedented opioid epidemic has made it all the more important to develop new medications that relieve pain without the addictive qualities that can lead to dependency. Our collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine researchers, led by Dr. Goldstein, is a critical step to realizing that goal."

Dr. Steven Fox, Chairman of Akelos Inc.

Akelos Inc. is in a research collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine to develop and commercialize a novel, non-opioid anti-hyperalgesic drug to treat chronic and neuropathic pain. The pre-clinical laboratory research that gave rise to Akelos Inc. underlying technology was enabled through prior support provided by Weill Cornell Medicine’s Daedalus Fund for Innovation, an “accelerator” type program that provides gap funding for select research projects at Weill Cornell Medicine with manifest commercial potential. Weill Cornell Medicine’s Office of BioPharma Alliances and Research Collaborations, which leads the Daedalus Fund for Innovation, catalyzed and negotiated the Agreement with Akelos.

Dr. Peter Goldstein, a professor of anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine and a principal investigator in the C.V. Starr Laboratory of Molecular Neuropharmacology in the institution’s Department of Anesthesiology, is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Akelos. He also is a named inventor on patents licensed to Akelos and Cornell University.

“An estimated 20 million people in the United States live with chronic neuropathic pain, for which opioid medication is a common treatment,” said Dr. Steven Fox, chairman of Akelos Inc. “However, the unprecedented opioid epidemic has made it all the more important to develop new medications that relieve pain without the addictive qualities that can lead to dependency. Our collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine researchers, led by Dr. Goldstein, is a critical step to realizing that goal."

Weill Cornell Medicine's Office of BioPharma Alliances and Research Collaborations’ mission is to proactively generate, structure and market translational research alliances with industry in order to advance promising research projects that have commercial potential. For more information, contact Larry Schlossman at las2041@med.cornell.edu or at 212-746-6909.

For more information, please contact:

​Akelos Inc.
Dr.  Steven Fox, CEO
212-953-1544
drstevefox@aol.com

About Akelos Inc.

​Akelos Inc. is a biopharmaceutical clinical company focused on the translation of innovative science into treatment. The company currently is developing novel non-narcotic drugs for the treatment of neuropathic pain. The goal of Akelos is to address some of today’s most pressing areas of unmet needs.

Forward-Looking Statement

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Source: Akelos Inc.