Barer Institute Announces Founding Board Members

NEWARK, N.J., Jan. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Barer Institute, a collaborative cancer drug development initiative of Rafael Holdings, Inc., (NYSE: RFL), today announced the slate of highly regarded scientific and business leaders that will serve as its founding Board of Directors.

The Board will be chaired by Howard Jonas, the Chairman and CEO of Rafael Holdings.

"The Barer Institute is pursuing tremendously promising approaches to develop innovative cancer metabolism therapies," said Howard Jonas. "I am pleased to announce that Sol Barer, Ph.D., Richard Axel, M.D., Arthur Levitt, Sanjeev Luther and Michael Weiss, M.D., Ph.D., are guiding this effort as members of the Barer Institute's Board of Directors.  In addition to lending his name to the Institute, Dr. Barer has generously offered to provide strategic direction to the Institute's development and collaboration efforts."

Sol J. Barer, Ph.D., is Chairman of the Board of Teva Pharmaceuticals, Chairman of Centrexion Therapeutics, Lead Director of Contrafect Corp, Chairman of Neximmune, Board member of 3DBioteherapeutics and Aevi Genomic Therapeutics, Founding Chair of the Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation, and advisor to the Israel Biotech Fund. Dr. Barer is a co-founder of Celgene Corporation and served as Celgene's Executive Chairman, President, CEO, and COO.

Richard Axel, M.D., is the recipient of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He is University Professor in the departments of neuroscience, biochemistry and molecular biophysics, and pathology at Columbia University, Co-director of the Zuckerman Institute Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Arthur Levitt, Jr. served as the 25th Chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from 1993 to 2001 – the longest tenure of any SEC Chairman.  He also served as Chairman of the American Stock Exchange and a senior advisor to the Carlyle Group.  Mr. Levitt is currently a member of the board of Bloomberg LP, and a Senior Advisor to the Promontory Financial Group, an IMB Company.

Sanjeev Luther is the CEO of Rafael Pharmaceuticals, the developer of CPI-613^® (devimistat), a cancer metabolism-based drug. Mr. Luther brings more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, having worked at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis, Bausch and Lomb, GE Healthcare and Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. Under Mr. Luther's leadership, Rafael Pharmaceuticals has significantly advanced its strategy, business portfolio and clinical development, leading to two pivotal Phase 3 trials for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer and relapsed / refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and over a dozen other early and late stage clinical trials. Mr. Luther is also Chairman of the Board of LipoMedix, an early stage pharmaceutical development company in which Rafael Holdings owns a majority interest.

Michael J. Weiss, M.D., Ph.D., has been on staff as an ophthalmologist with the Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute since 1985 and has served as a director of Uveitis Service since July 1987. Dr. Weiss is a Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at Columbia University Medical Center and was Board Certified in Ophthalmology in June 1987. Dr. Weiss received a Bachelor of Science from Bar-Ilan University, Israel in 1972, a Ph.D. from Columbia University School of Arts and Sciences in 1976 and a M.D. from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1981. Dr. Weiss also did a Post-Graduate Fellowship at Columbia University Institute of Cancer Research from 1976-1977.

About Rafael Holdings, Inc.:
Rafael Holdings holds commercial real estate assets and interests in clinical stage pharmaceutical companies.  The real estate holdings consist of properties in Newark and Piscataway, New Jersey and Jerusalem, Israel.  The pharmaceutical holdings include interests in two companies focused on the development and commercialization of oncology drugs:  Rafael Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and LipoMedix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. In addition, Rafael Holdings through its wholly owned subsidiary, the Barer Institute, is developing a pipeline of therapeutic compounds including compounds to regulate cancer metabolism. For more information, visit www.rafaelholdings.com. 

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SOURCE Rafael Holdings, Inc.