2 November 2017 - - US-based biopharmaceutical company Pulmatrix, Inc. (NASDAQ: PULM) has appointed James Roach, MD, FACP, FCCP as its new chief medical officer, the company said.

Roach will lead the clinical development of Pulmatrix's innovative inhaled drugs for serious lung diseases, including allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis and chronic obstructive lung disease.

Most recently, Roach was chief medical officer at Veristat.

Prior to joining Veristat, he served as senior vice president, development and chief medical officer of Momenta Pharmaceuticals, senior vice president, medical affairs at Sepracor Pharmaceuticals, and head of medical affairs at Millennium Pharmaceuticals.

At Pulmatrix, Roach will manage the clinical development of the company's  pipeline of inhaled drugs. The company's key innovation is a dry powder technology, called iSPERSETM, which has the potential to efficiently deliver virtually any type of drug.

Pulmatrix's lead proprietary program, Pulmazole, is aimed at a major unmet medical need, ABPA. Pulmazole offers the potential to treat ABPA by reducing the fungal burden of disease, which is thought to trigger the intense hypersensitivity and inflammatory response experienced by patients with asthma, cystic fibrosis, and others with compromised lung function that develop ABPA.

By including the anti-fungal drug itraconazole in its dry particles, Pulmatrix has been able to achieve high concentrations of the drug in the lungs and reduce systemic exposure in animal models. The program is planned to enter the clinic in 1Q18.

PUR1800 is narrow spectrum kinase inhibitor under development as a novel anti-inflammatory for moderate-to-severe COPD patients.

The active molecule in PUR1800 was in-licensed from RespiVert Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Janssen Biotech, Inc., in June 2017.

RespiVert Ltd. previously completed a Phase 2a study in COPD patients utilizing an earlier formulation which revealed a reduction in some markers of inflammation believed to be important in the pathogenesis of COPD.

Pulmatrix plans to advance PUR1800 to the clinic in 2H 2018 in a bridging Phase 2a study that will evaluate biomarkers of anti-inflammatory efficacy in an iSPERSE formulation of the molecule.

The company is developing innovative inhaled therapies to address serious pulmonary disease using its patented iSPERSE technology.

Pulmatrix's proprietary product pipeline is focused on advancing treatments for serious lung diseases, including Pulmazole (PUR1900), an inhaled anti-fungal for patients with ABPA, and PUR1800, a narrow spectrum kinase inhibitor for patients with obstructive lung diseases including asthma and COPD.

In addition, Pulmatrix has partnered with Vectura Group plc to develop Pulmatrix's drug candidate, PUR0200, for COPD for the US market. Pulmatrix's product candidates are based on iSPERSE, its proprietary dry powder delivery platform, which seeks to improve therapeutic delivery to the lungs by maximizing local concentrations and reducing systemic side effects to improve patient outcomes.