Cardiol Therapeutics (TSX:CRDL, NASDAQ:CRDL) Inc. has announced the appointment of Michael J. Willner to its board of directors, effective immediately.
The company noted that Willner has been a very active and successful opportunistic investor for over forty years and is the founder of Willner Capital, Inc., an investment company specializing in public and private equities, as well as debt instruments. Willner Capital primarily uses fundamental analysis as an evaluation method and event-driven strategies.
Over the past ten years, Willner Capital has made significant investments in both the biotechnology and pharmaceutical cannabinoid industries, focusing primarily on clinical-stage companies that seek to address significant unmet medical needs. Willner himself has been quoted in the New York Times business section and has served as a moderator and participant on numerous panel discussions and advisory boards regarding his investments in the pharmaceutical side of the cannabinoid industry.
In a statement, Dr Guillermo Torre-Amione, chairman of Cardiol Therapeutics commented: "I am pleased to welcome Michael Willner to Cardiol's Board of Directors. An advisor to the Company since December 2019, Michael has supported the Company's corporate development and capital markets initiatives which have resulted in significant progress with respect to the development of our lead drug candidate and have placed Cardiol in a strong financial position to complement our recent successful up-listing to NASDAQ. We are delighted that Michael has agreed to join the Board and provide his insights and experience as we advance the clinical development of important therapies aimed at improving the standard of care for people with inflammatory heart disease."
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The company noted that Willner has practiced as both an Attorney and a Certified Public Accountant having graduated from Emory University Law School as a member of the Emory Law Review. Subsequently, he practiced real estate and corporate law with New York City-based Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, one of the nation's most prominent international law firms. Prior to his legal career, Willner was employed by the former Arthur Andersen & Company, a national accounting firm, where he practiced in Arthur Andersen's tax department.
The company also noted that Deborah Brown has stepped down from its board of directors to allow her to focus on her new responsibilities in the global pharma venture which acquired Accelera Canada, the consulting firm of which she was a co-founder and managing partner. Cardiol said it would like to take this opportunity to thank Brown "for her contributions to the company as a founding director and wish her the very best with her latest endeavour".
Cardiol Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the research and clinical development of innovative anti-inflammatory therapies for the treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The company's lead product, CardiolRx, is a pharmaceutically produced oral cannabidiol formulation that is being investigated in a Phase II/III outcomes study.
This study - the LANCER trial - is designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CardiolRx as a cardioprotective therapy to reduce mortality and major cardiovascular events in patients hospitalized with coronavirus (COVID-19) who have a prior history of, or risk factors for, CVD, and to investigate the influence CardiolRx has on key markers of inflammatory heart disease.
Cardiol has also received clearance from the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for its investigational new drug (IND) application for a Phase II international trial that will investigate the anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic properties of CardiolRx in patients with acute myocarditis, which remains the most common cause of sudden cardiac death in people under 35 years of age.
In addition, Cardiol is developing a subcutaneous formulation of CardiolRx and other anti-inflammatory therapies for the treatment of chronic heart failure - a leading cause of death and hospitalization in North America, with associated annual healthcare costs in the US alone exceeding $30 billion.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com