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Linguagen Forms Scientific Advisory Board to Further Taste Research, Identification and Development

 

Cranbury, N.J., May 3, 2005  - Linguagen Corp. (www.linguagen.com), a leader in the identification and development of new compounds to improve the taste of pharmaceutical, food and beverage products, announces the formation of its scientific advisory board (SAB), initially consisting of four prominent scientists and industry leaders in the fields of taste transduction and pharmaceutical discovery.  Linguagen’s SAB includes: Robert Margolskee, M.D., Ph.D.; David Floyd, Ph.D.; Sue Kinnamon, Ph.D.; and Stephen Roper, Ph.D.

“We are proud to have such a prestigious group of scientists collaborating on Linguagen’s Scientific Advisory Board and we’re confident that they will make important contributions to our efforts to discover new compounds to improve the taste of medicines and make prepared foods and beverages more healthful,” said Ray Salemme, Ph.D., CEO of Linguagen Corp.  “The SAB provides our company with state-of-the-art scientific expertise in taste biology as well as tremendous practical experience in the discovery and development of new chemical agents, allowing us to efficiently pursue and capitalize on important market opportunities.”

Robert Margolskee, M.D., Ph.D., the founder of Linguagen Corp., will chair the SAB.  Dr. Margolskee is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Professor of Neuroscience and Pharmacology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Dr. Margolskee has been a pioneer in the application of molecular biology and transgenic animal models to the study of taste transduction and has made numerous discoveries in the taste field, including the identification and molecular cloning of taste specific receptors, G proteins, channels and other taste signal transduction elements. His groundbreaking work has been published in Nature, Science, and Scientific American, among others. He received his B.A. in biochemistry and molecular biology from Harvard University, his M.D. and Ph.D. in molecular genetics from Johns Hopkins, and completed his post-doctoral studies at Stanford University.

David Floyd, Ph.D., is the Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of the newly formed Pharmacopeia Drug Discovery.  Prior to joining Pharmacopeia, Dr. Floyd was Vice President of Discovery Chemistry at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he was responsible for a multi-site organization that produced more than 80 drug candidates in the areas of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience, infectious disease, oncology and inflammation.  He also helped establish and maintain multiple discovery- and technology-based alliances with groups in the United States, Europe and India.  Trained as an organic chemist, he received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan followed by an NIH postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University.  

Sue Kinnamon, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University.  Dr. Kinnamon’s research focuses on mechanisms of taste transduction, utilizing patch clamp electrophysiology and calcium imaging of single taste cells.  She has published several reviews and book chapters about mechanisms of taste transduction and presented at many international and national conferences, including the Society for Neuroscience, where she spoke on the recent advances in taste transduction. In 2001, she was awarded the Association for Chemoreception Sciences Award for Outstanding Achievement.  She obtained her Ph.D. from Kansas State and completed her postdoctoral training in the Departments of Physiology and Cell and Structural Biology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

Stephen D. Roper, Ph.D., is a Professor of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Miami School of Medicine. His research focuses on the cellular and molecular biology of chemosensory transduction in taste buds and he has published numerous articles on this topic.  He has served as the president of the Association for Chemoreception Sciences, and is currently the president for the Society for Neuroscience (Miami Chapter).  Prior to his position at the University of Miami, Dr. Roper was a professor in the department of anatomy and neurobiology, and physiology at Colorado State University.  A Fulbright Fellow, Dr. Roper received his B.A. in biology from Harvard, his Ph.D. in physiology from the University of London, and completed his post-doctoral studies at Harvard Medical School.

About Redpoint Bio, formerly Linguagen
Redpoint Bio Corporation (www.redpointbio.com) is a privately held company located in Cranbury, N.J., and holds a variety of patents in the field of taste. The company researches, discovers, develops, and commercializes breakthrough products that improve the palatability of oral medicines and enhance the flavor and nutritional value of foods and beverages, including solutions to the problems of bitterness, excess sugar, and excess salt.

Business Contact
Scott M. Horvitz, shorvitz@redpointbio.com or (609) 860-1500

Media Contact
Dawn Cabral, Environics Communications,
dcabral@environics-us.com or (203) 325-8772, ext. 18.

 

  Redpoint Bio