Marvel Biosciences Appoints Scientific Advisory Board

Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - November 9, 2021) - Marvel Biosciences Corp. (TSXV: MRVL) and its wholly owned subsidiary, Marvel Biotechnology Inc. (collectively the "Company" or "Marvel"), is pleased to announce the creation of its scientific advisory board to help guide the development of its lead asset, MB-204, a fluorinated derivative of the US-FDA approved adenosine A2a receptor antagonist, Istradefylline. Both Istradefylline and MB-204 are highly active derivatives of caffeine, the most widely consumed psychoactive drug in the world, whose consumption has been associated with a reduced risk for developing Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and improving concentration.

"I am pleased to welcome all the members of the scientific advisory board to help guide the development of our lead compound MB-204 for neurological and non-neurological diseases," stated Mark Williams, President and Chief Science Officer of Marvel Biosciences. "Our preclinical studies have shown promising results in terms of efficacy and safety, and as we move toward clinical testing with our lead asset, a strong scientific advisory board will be critical to our success."

The scientific advisory board members include:

Dr. David Blum adds crucial depth to the scientific board for his highly relevant research in the A2A receptor antagonists in cognition, brain lesions, and tau pathology for applications in Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Dr. Blum is a Senior Investigator and a Research Director of the Alzheimer & Tauopathies team at Lille Neuroscience & Cognition Inserm center in Lille. Dr. Blum is an expert in neuropathological studies on Tau (and its link to metabolism & neuroinflammation) and purine (and the role of purinergic signalling in neurodegeneration). One of Dr. Blum's current projects is to provide novel insights into the impact of neuro-glial A2A signalling on cognition and brain lesions in transgenic AD models. This work emphasizes that A2A receptor dysfunction is instrumentally involved in the loss of neuronal synapses driven by Tau pathology in AD and Tauopathies.

Dr. Jared Young, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California San Diego and brings significant expertise to the scientific board as a leader in translational models to validate drugs developed for neuropsychiatric disorders. Dr. Young investigates the molecular biology and neural circuitry underlying behavioral abnormalities in major neuropsychiatric disorders (using reverse-translated paradigms). Debilitating forms of mental illness are prevalent, but treatment options for these disorders remain limited. One major roadblock for treatment development has been the scarcity of effective cross-species models. However, Dr. Young has refined new and effective cross-species models. Dr. Young uses cutting-edge neuroscience to develop novel and sophisticated cross-species models to identify targetable mechanisms to treat mental illnesses (i.e., using the human 5-choice continuous performance task, initially created for use in mice).

Professor Bruce N. Cronstein, MD, is a Professor at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine (for the Departments of Medicine, Pharmacology, and Pathology). Prof. Cronstein is considered the world expert on adenosine, and has led adenosine research for over 38 years, publishing a monumental 365 peer-reviewed articles. The Cronstein laboratory has explored the role of adenosine across multiple thematic areas (including studying its application in neutrophils, inflammation, methotrexate treatments, and since the early 2000s, the adenosine A2A receptor). Prof. Cronstein has led the research of A2A receptor functions, including its roles in dermal fibrosis and scarring, hepatic fibrosis and fatty liver, bone healing, and more recently, chondrocyte metabolism and cartilage matrix maintenance. Prof. Cronstein's discoveries have led to novel therapeutics and treatments now considered best practice.

Professor Frank Schweizer is a Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Medical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases at the University of Manitoba. Prof. Schweizer has published > 130 papers on Medicinal- and Carbohydrate Chemistry and holds over ten patents. Prof. Schweizer is a leader in translational medical treatments, and his research focuses on preclinical drug discovery and development. Currently, Prof. Schweizer is working on applications to overcome drug resistance for antibiotic-resistant bacteria and chemotherapy-resistant cancers.

About Marvel Biosciences Corp.

Marvel Biosciences Corp., and its wholly owned subsidiary, Marvel Biotechnology Inc., is a Calgary-based preclinical stage pharmaceutical development biotechnology company that utilizes a "drug redevelopment" approach to drug development. Historically, when a new class of drug is developed, it is optimized for a particular target, but typically only approved for a specific disease. Often, a new disease is identified which involves the same target, however, pending the remaining patent life, the originally approved drug may not have sufficient time left for it to be commercially viable to be developed for the new disease indication. Marvel develops new synthetic chemical derivatives of the original approved drug for the new disease indication. Patent protection is sought as the new potential asset is developed by the Company. The Company believes the business model results in significantly less risk, cost and time to develop its assets compared to traditional biotechnology companies.

Marvel Biotechnology Inc. has currently developed several new chemical entities, using synthetic chemical derivatives of known, off-patent drugs, that inhibit the A2a adenosine receptor with application to neurological diseases (depression & anxiety, Alzheimer's, ADHD), and the non-neurological conditions of cancer and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Marvel is also exploring additional undisclosed targets to expand its asset pipeline.

Contact Information

Investor Relations: 
Virtus Advisory Group
Tel: 416-644-5081
Email: info@virtusadvisory.com

Marvel Biosciences Corp.
Roderick (Rod) Matheson, Chief Executive Officer or
Dr. Mark Williams, President and Chief Science Officer
Tel: 403 770 2469
Email: info@marvelbiosciences.com

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