Druggability Technologies USA Announces Appointment of John E. Friend II, M.D. as Chief Medical Officer

NEW YORK, Dec. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Druggability Technologies USA today announced that Dr.  John E. Friend II has been named as Chief Medical Officer.

Druggability Technologies USA has been engaged by Druggability Technologies Holding (DRGT) to assist with the clinical development of all human trials for DRGT.

DRGT is a specialty pharmaceutical company that utilizes its proprietary Super-API technology to generate high-value pharmaceutical products that deliver clinically meaningful improvement in efficacy and safety.  Without chemical modification, the technology provides solutions for dose delivery, bioavailability, solubility and other performance limiting issues that can improve efficacy, the side-effect and toxicity profiles of drugs by reducing total administered dose.

Dr. John E. Friend, II, M.D. brings more than 16 years of leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical industry to DRGT USA. Most recently he was Chief Medical Officer of Cellectar Biosciences, Inc. where he was instrumental in the planning and execution of a number of oncology development programs, including rare pediatric and adult hematologic cancers. Prior to that, Dr. Friend served as Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Helsinn Therapeutics (U.S.), Inc. leading its research and development, clinical, medical affairs and regulatory affairs divisions. Prior to his time at Helsinn, Dr. Friend held executive responsibility for clinical research, medical affairs, pharmacovigilance and risk management at various pharmaceutical companies including Akros Pharma, Actavis, Alpharma, Hospira and Abbott. He completed post-graduate residency program in family medicine and subsequently served as Clinical Director and faculty attending physician at Cabarrus Family Medicine Residency Program in North Carolina. After obtaining an undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Southern Methodist University, Dr. Friend earned his medical degree from UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (now Rutgers, RWJMS).

"We are very excited to work with Druggability Technologies USA on the management of our expanding clinical development programs.  Dr. Friend's extensive experience and deep understanding of clinical operations and medical regulatory affairs will be instrumental in the successful conduct and completion of the clinical development of our lead candidates." - said Gabor Heltovics, CEO of DRGT.

In 2019, DRGT will be continuing and initiating as many as 8 pivotal clinical trials including several orphan and pediatric designations in various indications such as oncology, pain management, proctology and erectile dysfunction.

"This is an exciting moment for DRGT with multiple clinical trials underway and planned across multiple therapeutic areas for diverse patient populations, all of whom are vastly underserved by current options," said Dr. Friend. "It's clear from the clinical data generated to date utilizing our unique drug delivery platform, that these medicines possess significant potential to address some of the biggest health challenges, including pain and cancer.

About DRGT

DRGT is a specialty pharmaceutical company dedicated to the development and commercialization of high-value proprietary drugs that deliver measurable and meaningful improvements in clinical utility. DRGT utilizes its proprietary Super-API drug development platform to carefully select and screen drugs and develop their Super-API compositions. The Company's Super-API portfolio contains 30 compounds in various indications. Super-API drugs are protected by global composition of matter IP. DRGT is incorporated in Ireland with R&D facilities in Budapest, Hungary. The corporation was founded by Dr. Ferenc Darvas, Chairman of the oldest Hungarian upstream-technology network.

Contact:
Gábor Heltovics, CEO
E-mail: info@drgtco.com
Phone: +36-1-5779-300
http://www.drgtco.com

\Hugin