iCo Therapeutics Recruits Leading Ophthalmologist to Strategic Advisory Board
June 14, 2006
VANCOUVER, Canada-iCo Therapeutics Inc. announced today that Dr. Philip Rosenfeld has joined iCo’s strategic advisory team. Dr. Rosenfeld is Professor of Ophthalmology at the world-renowned Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine.
“Dr. Rosenfeld has been involved in the clinical testing of virtually every medical treatment for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and was the first to demonstrate the usefulness of Avastin in treating the disease,” said Andrew Rae, iCo President and CEO. “Dr. Rosenfeld’s vision and pioneering efforts with Avastin have led to a paradigm shift in the way AMD is treated today. We are extremely pleased to have him join our strategic advisory board and help guide the acquisition and clinical development of our products.”
Dr. Rosenfeld’s chief research interests are in the diagnosis, treatment and genetics of macular diseases. He is at the forefront of medical testing having spent the past decade seeking effective therapies for AMD. He is currently Principal Investigator of nine clinical trials for AMD. In May 2005, Dr. Rosenfeld was the first to perform an intravitreal injection of Avastin-a drug approved to treat colon cancer-for the treatment of wet AMD. By injecting a small amount of the drug into the eyes of patients with wet AMD, Dr. Rosenfeld showed that Avastin not only halted the progression of neovascularization in these patients, but also resulted in an improvement in vision in many of the patients. These findings have since been put into practice by physicians around the world.
Dr. Rosenfeld received a Medical Degree and PhD from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. He completed a residency at Harvard’s Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and fellowships at both the Department of Ophthalmology at Harvard University and the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine.
