Exagen Announces New Rheumatoid Arthritis Scientific Advisory Board

SAN DIEGO, March 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Exagen Inc. (Nasdaq: XGN), a leading provider of autoimmune testing solutions, announced today the formation of its new Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) with appointment of seven doctors and rheumatology experts. The SAB includes Stanley Cohen, MD; Andrew Concoff, MD, FACR, CAQSM; Kevin Deane, MD, PhD; Paul J. DeMarco, MD; Harris Perlman, PhD; Eric Ruderman, MD; and Marina Sirota, PhD.

“We are thrilled to be able to work with the prestigious group of scientific thought leaders that we have gathered for our Scientific Advisory Board. Each member brings with them deep and expansive experience in the field of rheumatology, with specialized focus in rheumatoid arthritis,” said Ron Rocca, Exagen’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Their insights will provide Exagen with key and relevant counsel in the continued development and growth of AVISE® RADR.”

The founding members of the Exagen RA Scientific Advisory Board are:

Stanley Cohen, M.D. is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center and Co-Director of the Division of Rheumatology at Presbyterian Hospital, Dallas. He also is Co-Medical Director of Metroplex Clinical Research Center. Dr. Cohen was honored in 2016 with the designation of Master by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and was awarded the American College of Rheumatology’s Presidential Gold Medal in 2021 for his outstanding contributions to the advancement of rheumatology. He is a past president of the ACR and has extensive experience in RA clinical trials.

Andrew Concoff, MD, FACR, CAQSM is the Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer at United Rheumatology. Dr. Concoff previously applied his training as one of the few doctors in the nation to have completed fellowships in both Rheumatology and Sports Medicine to his hybrid-specialty private practice in Southern California. Along with his clinical practice, he served as Medical Director for Outpatient Rehabilitation, leading the transition to evidence-driven physical therapy and the development of a value-based low back pain assessment and treatment program. Dr. Concoff received a Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health for his research in exercise for knee osteoarthritis.

Kevin Deane, MD, PhD is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Dr. Deane is currently a principal or co-investigator in several multi-centered studies investigating how genetic, environmental and mucosal factors influence the early development of RA; he is also an investigator on several clinical trials in RA including a prevention trial.

Paul J. DeMarco, M.D. is a Board-Certified Rheumatologist, a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, a Fellow of the American College of Rheumatology and a member of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine. Dr. DeMarco served as Medical Director for the Clinical Trials Department at the Washington Hospital Center for many years and remains involved in research. He has published and lectured in most aspects of rheumatology but has particular interest in connective tissue diseases in adults and children. He is an Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine, teaching medical students and rheumatology fellows. He is among the first physicians in the country to achieve certification from the American College of Rheumatology in Rheumatologic Musculoskeletal Ultrasonography (RhMSUS).

Harris Perlman, PhD is Chief of Rheumatology and the Mabel Greene Myers Professor of Medicine and was the co-senior author of a USA-based study that used genetic profiling of joint tissue to see which drugs would work for which patients. Over the past 22 years, his area of interest has centered on rheumatic disease. His laboratory focuses on using functional genomics and clinomics towards the development of a precision medicine approach for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic sclerosis (SSc). Dr. Perlman has created a central digital biorepository for peripheral blood, serum and tissues (synovial biopsy) from RA and SSc (esophageal, skin, BAL) patients. Single cell populations of immune cells are analyzed from these biopsies via spatial transcriptomics as well as CITE, RNA and ATAC seq. Thus, by using the cutting-edge technologies, data has the potential to be paradigm shifting and transformative to understand the function of individual populations of monocytes and macrophages in relationship to developing a precision medicine approach for patients.

Eric Ruderman, MD is the Associate Chief, Clinical Affairs for the Division of Rheumatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. His academic focus links the clinical and research enterprises within the division to foster novel translational work that will advance the field of rheumatology. He is very interested in clinical trial designs and serves on the data safety monitoring boards for several multi-center clinical trials. Dr. Ruderman has served as a Vice Chair in the Northwestern IRB for over 15 years.

Marina Sirota, PhD is an Associate Professor at the Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute at UCSF. Her research interests lie in developing computational integrative methods and applying these approaches in the context of disease diagnostics and therapeutics. Her primary focus is on leveraging and integrating different types of omics and clinical data to better understand the role of the immune system in disease. The Sirota laboratory is funded by NIA, NLM, NIAMS, Pfizer, March of Dimes and the Burroughs Welcome Fund. As a young leader in the field, she has been awarded the AMIA Young Investigator Award in 2017. Dr. Sirota also is the director of the AI4ALL program at UCSF, with the goal of introducing high school girls to applications of AI and machine learning in biomedicine.

About Exagen Inc.

Exagen is dedicated to transforming the care continuum for patients suffering from debilitating and chronic autoimmune diseases by enabling timely differential diagnosis and optimizing therapeutic intervention. Exagen has developed and is commercializing a portfolio of innovative testing products under its AVISE® brand, several of which are based on our proprietary Cell-Bound Complement Activation Products, or CB-CAPs, technology. Exagen’s goal is to enable providers to improve care for patients through the differential diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of complex autoimmune and autoimmune-related diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. For further information please visit www.exagen.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Exagen cautions you that statements in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on Exagen’s current beliefs and expectations. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Scientific Advisory Board’s insight and counsel leading to any potential development of the AVISE® RADR Platform. The inclusion of forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by Exagen that any of its plans will be achieved. Actual results may differ from those set forth in this press release due to the risks and uncertainties inherent in Exagen’s business, including, without limitation: that developing new molecular signatures involves a lengthy and complex process, and the collaboration may not lead to the successful development of related testing products and Exagen may not be able to commercialize any such products on a timely basis, or at all; the COVID-19 pandemic may continue to adversely affect Exagen’s business, financial condition and results of operations, including as a result of shutdowns of its facilities and operations as well as those of its suppliers and courier services, impeding patient movement and interruptions to healthcare services causing a decrease in test volumes, disruptions to the supply chain of material needed for its tests, its sales and commercialization activities and its ability to receive specimens and perform or deliver the results from its tests, and delays in ongoing and planned clinical trials involving its tests; Exagen’s commercial success depends upon attaining and maintaining significant market acceptance of its testing products and promoted therapeutics among rheumatologists, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community; Exagen’s ability to successfully execute on its business strategies; third-party payors not providing coverage and adequate reimbursement for Exagen’s testing products or promoted therapeutics; Exagen’s ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property for its testing products; regulatory developments affecting Exagen’s business; Exagen’s collaboration and development activities; risks associated with maintaining the collaboration and license agreements; and other risks described in Exagen’s prior press releases and Exagen’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including under the heading “Risk Factors” in Exagen’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and any subsequent filings with the SEC. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof, and Exagen undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date hereof. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, which is made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Investor Relations
Exagen Inc.
Ryan Douglas
rdouglas@exagen.com 
760.560.1525

Company
Exagen Inc.
Kamal Adawi, Chief Financial Officer
kadawi@exagen.com 
760.477.5514