Starlight Therapeutics Announces Inaugural Members of Scientific Advisory Board

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Nov 05, 2024

Starlight Therapeutics, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lantern Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: LTRN), formed to develop transformative CNS cancer treatments with AI-powered innovation, announced today the formation of a Scientific Advisory Board (“SAB”) to support the development of lead compound STAR-001. The inaugural SAB will work closely with Starlight’s management team to provide strategic guidance and critical expert insights into the development of STAR-001 in CNS and brain tumors for both children and adults.

“The establishment of the SAB represents a significant advancement for Starlight, and we are honored to be joined by such accomplished scientific experts. We look forward to drawing upon the deep subject matter expertise of Drs. Berger, DeAngelis, Grossman and Laterra, to shape the development path of STAR-001,” said Dr. Marc Chamberlain, M.D., Starlight’s Chief Medical Officer. “We also extend congratulations to Drs. Berger and Grossman on being recipients of the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Neuro-oncology. Congratulations!”

The SAB includes (in alphabetical order):

- Dr. Mitchel S. Berger, M.D., is the chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, director of the Brain Tumor Center, director of Center for Neurological Injury and Repair and, co-director of Adult Brain Tumor Surgery Program at UCSF. Dr. Berger is a nationally recognized expert in treating brain and spinal cord tumors and tumor-related epilepsy in adults and children. He is a specialist in brain mapping techniques to identify and preserve motor, sensory and language function during surgery and, an expert in using Gamma Knife, a precise, noninvasive radiation beam tool for tumor treatment. Dr. Berger has completed American Cancer Society fellowships in neuro-oncology at UCSF, research fellowship by the Brain Tumor Research Center, and in pediatric neurosurgery at the Hospital for Sick Children at University of Toronto. Dr. Berger was elected to American Association of Neurological Surgeons' board of directors and appointed to American Board of Neurological Surgery.

https://profiles.ucsf.edu/mitchel.berger

- Dr. Lisa M. DeAngelis, M.D., is the Chief Physician Executive and Scott M. and Lisa G. Stuart Chair at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). Dr. DeAngelis oversees all clinical services, research, medical education, and multi-center collaborations, including the 500-bed Memorial Hospital, 13 outpatient facilities, and seven regional care sites across NY and NJ. Dr. DeAngelis is an internationally recognized expert in brain cancer and neurological complications of cancer treatment, including cognitive impairment and stroke. Dr. DeAngelis served as chair of the Department of Neurology at MSKCC from 1997 to 2018, and co-founded MSK’s Brain Tumor Center, where experts from across MSKCC work to bring discoveries from the lab to patients. Dr. DeAngelis’ research has focused on primary brain tumors and led clinical trials to investigate new tumor therapies. Dr. DeAngelis has helped to develop the current regimen to treat primary CNS lymphoma, has authored over 350 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 130 book chapters and has written or edited eight books. Dr. DeAngelis is an elected member of National Academy of Medicine, fellow and former Vice Chair of American Neurological Association (ANA) and fellow of American Academy of Neurology (AAN), which in 2019 awarded her the organization’s highest honor, the Wartenberg Lecture.

https://www.mskcc.org/profile/lisa-deangelis

- Dr. Stuart Grossman, M.D., is Professor of Oncology at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, is co-Leader of the Brain Cancer Program and has directed the clinical and research neuro-oncology efforts at Johns Hopkins since 1981. He has served as Principal Investigator and Director of the Central Operations office of the National Cancer Institute-funded Phase I/II brain tumor consortia (New Approaches to Brain Tumor Therapy CNS Consortium and the Adult Brain Tumor Consortium) for the past 22 years. He has led many Phase I, II, and III institutional and cooperative group translational and clinical brain cancer research projects. Dr. Grossman's expertise is in brain cancers, translational and clinical research, and directing large, multicenter, multidisciplinary clinical trial groups and training programs.

https://profiles.hopkinsmedicine.org/provider/stuart-grossman/2707207

- Dr. John Laterra, MD, Ph.D., is a Professor of Neurology, Oncology and Neuroscience and Co-Director of the Brain Cancer Disease Group at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. Dr. Laterra is internationally recognized for his clinical expertise and research on mechanisms of brain tumor malignancy, tumor vascular biology and the identification of new therapeutic targets in gliomas. Dr. Laterra’s research focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of patients with primary brain tumors and neurological complications of systemic cancer and is funded by the National Institutes of Health and numerous private foundations.

https://profiles.hopkinsmedicine.org/provider/john-j-laterra/2706899

About Starlight Therapeutics:

Starlight Therapeutics is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lantern Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: LTRN). Lead program is STAR-001, a unique blood-brain barrier permeable small molecule that utilizes its powerful mechanism of action and synthetic lethality to exploit common vulnerabilities in CNS cancers with DNA damage repair (DDR) deficiencies. STAR-001 has the potential to be the first new drug for treating GBM since 2003. The anti-tumor potential of STAR-001 has been demonstrated across an extensive number of in-vitro and in-vivo CNS cancer models, including GBM, brain metastases, atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors (ATRT) and, has been presented at leading conferences and publications including: Society for Neuro-Oncology annual meeting, American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting, and Frontiers in Drug Discovery Journal.

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