TORONTO, Sept. 05, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Scythian Biosciences Corp. (the "Company") (TSX-V:SCYB) is pleased to announce that Maghsoud Dariani has become the Chief Scientific Officer of the Company. Mr. Dariani was previously on the Company’s advisory board and has over 35 years of experience in the development and commercialization of products in the pharmaceutical industry. Mr. Dariani’s experience includes, among other things, management positions at Semorex, Focus Pharmaceuticals, Celgene and Chiral Pharmaceuticals.
About Mr. Dariani
Mr. Dariani has over 35 years of diverse and progressive management experience in the development and commercialization of products in the pharmaceutical industry. Mr. Dariani has a successful record of business management, strategic planning, acquisition and divestiture, project management, production management, R&D management, economic evaluations, competitor analyses, and development and administration of multi-million dollar budgets. Mr. Dariani is an entrepreneurial business leader with a sound grasp of successful business strategies, an excellent foundation in science and engineering, and a strong background in product development and commercialization. He is currently the CEO of Semorex Inc. – a privately held company focused on the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for cancer. Mr. Dariani also leads Myos Rens’ science and technology efforts and has overall responsibilities for manufacturing, basic science, pre-clinical and clinical studies. Prior to joining Semorex Inc., Mr. Dariani was President of Focus Pharmaceuticals, Inc (“Focus”) where he managed the development and approval of drug products, achieving one FDA approval and bringing another to the clinical evaluation stage. Prior to joining Focus, Mr. Dariani was Vice President of the chiral pharmaceutical business unit at Celgene Corporation (“Celgene”). During his twelve years at Celgene, Mr. Dariani developed and implemented Celgene’s manufacturing strategy, managed and successfully sold Celgene’s chiral intermediates business unit, and formulated a strategic plan for leveraging Celgene’s expertise in chiral technologies towards the development of chirally pure drug products. Mr. Dariani was responsible for the successful development and FDA approval of the chirally pure versions of Ritalin, which are currently marketed by Novartis under the Focalin and Focalin XR trade names. Prior to Celgene, Mr. Dariani held progressively more responsible engineering and development positions at Celanese Corporation. Mr. Dariani holds a Bachelor of Science from The City College of New York and a Master of Science from University of Massachusetts in Chemical Engineering. Mr. Dariani is a member of Board of Directors at Semorex Inc. and Mesa Therapeutics.
About Scythian Biosciences Corp.
Scythian is a research and development company committed to finding a solution for the prevention and treatment of concussions and traumatic brain injury with its proprietary Cannabinoid combination.
Scythian’s mission is to be the first accepted drug regimen for concussive treatment. Scythian has recently formed a collaboration with the University of Miami and its world renowned neuroscientific team to conduct pre-clinical and clinical trials of its drug regimen. The University of Miami believes that Scythian’s scientific approach shows significant promise and differs from previous approaches to treat this growing problem. The collaboration with the University of Miami allows access to their extensive knowledge base in the fields of traumatic brain injury and concussions and allows for Scythian’s clinical studies to be undertaken at their world-class facilities.
Gillian A. Hotz, PhD, is leading Scythian’s program at the University of Miami. Dr. Hotz is a nationally recognized behavioral neuroscientist and expert in neurotrauma, concussion management, and neurorehabilitation. She has extensive experience in neurocognitive testing. Dr. Hotz has been the co-director of University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Concussion Program since 1995.
Scythian is also endorsed by Pro Football Legends and the World Boxing Association on its mission.