Senator Thomas Daschle, Former Senate Majority Leader, Appointed Strategic Healthcare Advisor to Akelos Inc., Biotechnology Company Developing Opioid Drug Alternatives

NEW YORK, April 4, 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 Senator Thomas Daschle to its roster of high-profile advisors.

Senator Daschle provides clients with strategic public policy advice on a wide range of international issues. Senator Daschle has participated in the development and debate of almost every major public policy issue of the last three decades. In 1978, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served for eight years. In 1986, he was elected to the U.S. Senate and selected as Senate Democratic Leader in 1994. Senator Daschle is one of the longest-serving Senate Democratic leaders in history and served as both Majority and Minority Leader. During his tenure, Senator Daschle navigated the Senate through some of its most historic economic and national security challenges. In 2003, he chronicled some of these experiences in his book, “Like No Other Time: The 107th Congress and the Two Years That Changed America Forever.” In the 2013 book “The U.S. Senate: Fundamentals of American Government,” Senator Daschle explored the inner workings of this important part of the legislative branch.

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.

Since leaving the Senate, Senator Daschle has remained an active and learned voice among policy-makers. He has distinguished his experience in health care through the publication of "Critical: What We Can Do About the Health Care Crisis" and "Getting It Done: How Obama and Congress Finally Broke the Stalemate to Make Way for Health Care Reform." Senator Daschle has also emerged as a leading thinker on climate change, food security and renewable energy policy. He serves as chair of the DuPont Advisory Committee on Agriculture Innovation and Productivity as well as the BP Tangguh Independent Advisory Panel.

In 2007, Senator Daschle joined with former Majority Leaders George Mitchell, Bob Dole and Howard Baker to create the Bipartisan Policy Center, an organization dedicated to finding common ground on some of the pressing public policy challenges of our time. Senator Daschle serves on numerous public and private boards, including the Center for American Progress and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He also serves on the Health Policy and Management Executive Council at the Harvard School of Public Health, as well as the Council on Governance for Sustainability at the World Economic Forum and the Federal Advisory Board of Accenture.

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
​This press release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s expectations and are subject to certain factors, risks, and uncertainties that may cause actual results, outcomes of events, timing and performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. These statements include, among others, those related to: the results of research and development activities, uncertainties relating to preclinical and clinical testing, the cost, timing and outcome of the regulatory development and approval process, our budgets, expenditures and financing plans, our need for substantial additional funds, patent and intellectual property matters, our dependence on third parties, including contract research and contract clinical trial organizations; and market opportunity and competition.

The information contained in this press release is believed to be current as of the date of original issue. Akelos, Inc. expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based.

Source: Akelos Inc.