The post Founders’ Journey: From Pharmacology to Patient Impact appeared first on Dignify Therapeutics.

Mr. Welch comes to Dignify with over two decades of diverse business experience as a successful entrepreneur and business executive from startup to acquisition. He has worked as a senior executive in clinical trials for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and med-tech companies seeking to develop their assets into safe and effective treatment options. His experience includes multiple leadership roles in business development, branding, marketing, corporate communications, and strategic planning activities.

We are thrilled to welcome Jeff to our executive team,” said Anthony DiTonno, CEO of Dignify. His skills and experience align well with Dignify’s business priorities. As we enter a pivotal phase of growth, Jeff has a wide appreciation of the complexities associated with getting a drug or device to market. From fundraising and building a team of KOLs to navigating the regulatory landscape, he will be instrumental in executing our mission to bring Dignify’s treatments to patients.

About Dignify Therapeutics

Founded by a team of serial entrepreneurs who are internationally recognized scientists, Dignify Therapeutics’ mission is to provide practical and convenient treatments for bladder and bowel voiding dysfunctions, primarily using a repositioning strategy of drug discovery that the team has successfully implemented multiple times over the last 20 years in the fields of urology and gastroenterology.

The Company is funded by founders, venture capital firms (RA Capital Management and Eshelman Ventures), the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, the One NC Small Business Program, and the NIH SBIR/STTR program (with 18 awards and approximately $18 million in funding). Dignify Therapeutics is located in the First Flight Venture Center in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. 

PRESS CONTACT

Dignify Therapeutics

Ed Burgard, PhD

2 Davis Drive

Research Triangle Park, NC  27709

Phone: 919-371-8138

Email:  eburgard@dignifytherapeutics.com

Website:  https://dignifytherapeutics.com

The post Dignify Therapeutics Announces Jeff Welch as Chief Operating Officer appeared first on Dignify Therapeutics.

The post Bolstering Bowel And Bladder Control With Dignify Therapeutics’ Karl Thor appeared first on Dignify Therapeutics.

During the conference, Dignify CEO Anthony DiTonno provided an update of the company’s progress and strategic direction. He emphasized Dignify Therapeutics’ commitment to developing innovative therapies for individuals affected by spinal cord injuries, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and other neurological conditions.

DTI-301 and DTI-117 are at the forefront of the company’s pipeline and are treatments for bladder and bowel dysfunction associated with neurological conditions and the aging process. Currently, many of these individuals require bladder catheterization for bladder emptying and an invasive, time-consuming manual bowel program for bowel evacuation. 

Dignify’s lead drug program, DTI-301, is a suppository that patients use as needed for bowel evacuation. DTI-301 induces defecation within 5-10 minutes, with minimal absorption and systemic exposure.  Dignify’s second drug program, DTI-117, is currently in development for on-demand emptying of both the bladder and bowel. DTI-117 directly stimulates smooth muscle contraction in the bladder and bowel, produces voiding in less than 10 minutes, and is rapidly eliminated from the body.

About Dignify Therapeutics

Dignify Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on developing therapies to restore voluntary bowel and bladder function in individuals with neurological conditions. The company’s mission is to improve the quality of life for individuals affected by neurological disorders, and the elderly.

For more information about Dignify Therapeutics and its clinical development programs, please visit www.dignifytherapeutics.com.

About the BIO CEO & Investor Conference

The BIO CEO & Investor Conference serves as a premier platform for biotech companies to engage with investors and industry leaders, fostering discussions on the latest advancements and investment opportunities in the biotechnology sector. 

PRESS CONTACT  

Dignify Therapeutics  

The post Dignify Therapeutics Highlights Clinical Development Plans at the BIO CEO & Investor Conference appeared first on Dignify Therapeutics.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC (October 22, 2024) – Dignify Therapeutics (Dignify), a leading developer of therapies for bladder and bowel dysfunction, has been selected as a participating company in the Praxis Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Accelerate Program. SCI Accelerate is a commercialization program ‘geared towards healthcare companies with a product ready to launch into a market that will transform the lives of people living
with SCI’. Under the SCI Accelerate program, Dignify and Praxis will focus on the development of Dignify’s drug programs to treat bladder and bowel disorders in people with SCI.

Dr. Karl B. Thor, Chief Scientific Officer of Dignify, indicated; “The Praxis SCI Accelerate Program is critically important for Dignify to ensure that the clinical development program for our products provides the efficacy, safety, and convenience that are considered valuable and most important by SCI individuals for control of bowel
and bladder dysfunction. The selection of Dignify to join the Praxis SCI community confirms the unmet medical need for our therapeutics.”

Arushi Raina, Praxis Director of Commercialization, stated “The Praxis team was impressed by the Dignify team’s approach and excited by the possibility of a bowel and bladder treatment that could be used in an accessible way to transform daily living.”

About Dignify Therapeutics
Founded by a team of serial entrepreneurs who are internationally recognized scientists and clinicians, Dignify’s mission is to provide safe, effective, practical, and convenient, “on-demand” pharmaceutical agents to treat bladder and bowel voiding dysfunctions. The company has been funded by RA Capital Management, Eshelman
Ventures, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, NIDDK, NINDS, NICHD, NIA, US Defense Department, and the One NC Small Business Program. Dignify is located at the First Flight Venture Center in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

About Praxis
Praxis is a Canadian-based not-for-profit organization that leads global collaboration in SCI research, innovation, and care. We accelerate the translation of discoveries and best practices into improved treatments for people with spinal cord injuries. Our work is driven by the priorities of people with SCI and led by our four teams — PLEX (people with lived experience), Cure, Care, and Commercialization.

PRESS CONTACT
Dignify Therapeutics
Anthony DiTonno, CEO
2 Davis Drive
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
ditonno@dignifytherapeutics.com
dignifytherapeutics.com

The post Dignify Therapeutics Selected as a Praxis SCI Accelerate Company appeared first on Dignify Therapeutics.

Dr. Karl B. Thor, Chief Scientific Officer and Investigator on the grants indicated; “We are very grateful that multiple Institutes at the NIH support the severe, unmet, medical need for therapies to restore control of bladder and bowel dysfunction. These therapies are directed toward the elderly and people with neurological conditions such as spinal injury, multiple sclerosis, spina bifida, and diabetes. The needs of these populations are typically not discussed publicly by those afflicted and their caregivers and thus remain an unrecognized and underappreciated burden for them.” He further emphasized; “Bladder and bowel dysfunction are top reasons for institutionalization of the elderly due to the heavy burdens associated with domestic caregiving. Similarly, restoration of bladder and bowel dysfunction in people with spinal injury is more important to them than restoration of their ability to walk.“

The new grants will allow Dignify to expand its therapeutic research and development efforts into providing innovative drug therapies for treating urinary and fecal incontinence, respectively. Similar to the unmet medical need for drugs to induce on-demand voiding in the elderly and people with neurological conditions, there is also a severe need in these same populations to prevent incontinence episodes. Dr. Qiaojuan Zhang, Principal Investigator on grant R43AG088838, will join Dignify from Duke University Department of Neurology to lead the NIA-sponsored research.

About Dignify Therapeutics

Founded by a team of serial entrepreneurs who are internationally recognized scientists and clinicians, Dignify’s mission is to provide safe, effective, practical and convenient, “on-demand” pharmaceutical agents to treat bladder and bowel voiding dysfunctions. The company has been funded by RA Capital Management, Eshelman Ventures, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, NIDDK, NINDS, NICHD, NIA, US Defense Department, and the One NC Small Business Program. Dignify is located at the First Flight Venture Center in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

PRESS CONTACT

Dignify Therapeutics
Anthony DiTonno, CEO
2 Davis Drive
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
ditonno@dignifytherapeutics.com
dignifytherapeutics.com

The post Dignify Therapeutics awarded two new research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) appeared first on Dignify Therapeutics.

“I am extremely excited to join Dignify’s SAB. Having lived with a spinal injury for almost 40 years, and experience daily chronic bladder and bowel dysfunction, I am grateful that there is a company that is dedicated to finding new pharmaceutical approaches for bladder and bowel treatments for people with spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, and other neuropathies”, Sasha explained. “I look forward to providing Dignify with direction for their clinical trial designs and product development that includes guidance from those living with spinal injury/disease.”

“We are very proud to have Sasha join Dignify’s SAB. We look forward to his guidance and expertise as we focus on advancing our therapies for the treatment of bladder and bowel disorders, especially as they apply to people with neurological deficits such as spinal injury,” said Dr. Karl Thor, Chief Scientific Officer of Dignify. “I am confident that Dr. Rabchevsky will be a significant contributor to our development of novel treatments that will allow people with spinal injury, neurological disease, diabetes, and the elderly to regain ‘on-demand’ control of bladder and bowel voiding to eliminate many of the associated social, professional, financial, and physical burdens of bladder and bowel dysfunction.”

About Dignify Therapeutics

Founded by a team of serial entrepreneurs who are internationally recognized scientists and clinicians, Dignify’s mission is to provide safe, effective, practical and convenient, “on-demand” pharmaceutical agents to treat bladder and bowel voiding dysfunctions. The company has been funded by RA Capital Management, Eshelman Ventures, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, NIDDK, NINDS, NICHD, NIA, US Defense Department, and the One NC Small Business Program. Dignify is located at the First Flight Venture Center in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

PRESS CONTACT

Dignify Therapeutics
Anthony DiTonno, CEO
2 Davis Drive
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
ditonno@dignifytherapeutics.com
dignifytherapeutics.com

The post Dignify Therapeutics welcomes leading spinal injury expert Alexander “Sasha” Rabchevsky PhD, to its Scientific Advisory Board appeared first on Dignify Therapeutics.

Dr. Karl Thor, Chief Scientific Officer and patent co-inventor stated “This is an important accomplishment for the company as we expand our portfolio of treatments for individuals with voiding disorders.  This patent helps solidify our mission to restore voluntary “on demand” bladder and bowel voiding to those patients that are unable to voluntarily void or voluntarily control bladder or bowel activity.”  Dr. Aura Kullmann is also a co-inventor.

Many individuals with spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, spina bifida, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes as well as many elderly people cannot completely or efficiently empty their bladder or bowel without the assistance of bladder catheters or bowel programs.  Dignify’s US Patent No. 10,086,034 describes a method of drug-induced voiding that could potentially replace bladder catheters and bowel programs, thus improving the standard of care and quality of life for individuals that experience voiding dysfunction.

About Dignify Therapeutics LLC

Founded by a team of serial entrepreneurs who are internationally-recognized scientists and clinicians, Dignify Therapeutics’ mission is to provide safe, effective, practical and convenient, treatments for bladder and bowel voiding dysfunction. The Company has been funded by RA Capital Management, Eshelman Ventures, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, NIDDK, NINDS, NICHD, NIA and the One NC Small Business Program. Dignify, a member of the Blackstone Entrepreneur Network, is located at the First Flight Venture Center in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

PRESS CONTACT
Dignify Therapeutics
Ed Burgard, President
P.O. Box 13169 – 2 Davis Drive
Research Triangle Park, NC  27709
Phone: 919-371-8138
Email:  eburgard@dignifytherapeutics.com
Website:  https://dignifytherapeutics.com

The post Dignify Therapeutics Announces the Issuance of US Patent No. 10,086,034 for treatment of voiding dysfunction appeared first on Dignify Therapeutics.

For more information, please visit: Underactivebladder.org

The post Dignify Therapeutics’ Chief Scientific Officer invited to participate at CURE-UAB appeared first on Dignify Therapeutics.

His mother, Darlene, shared his story with Dignify Therapeutics recently. Darlene says, “To this day, I feel that the hardest part of the injury is the bladder and I pray every day for the return of his bladder function.”  Troy is still making continued progress, but his independence is limited due to his hand function and an inability to catheter himself.

Currently there are no effective and tolerable marketed drugs for the treatment of bladder retention disorders in individuals with spinal cord injuries, and bladder catheterization is the current treatment. Although it may be years away, Dignify Therapeutics is committed to discovering and developing novel pharmaceutical agents to restore voluntary excretory function for individuals with spinal cord injuries.

If a drug could be developed that would restore voluntary bladder control, what would this drug mean for your son Troy?

Troy’s mother, Darlene, says…

“This drug would mean complete independence for everyday living, and would free Troy from the UTIs which have been one of the most difficult issues of his injury.  Troy would be able to be a teenager again – to live at college without the worries of catheing and maintaining a bowel program.  He would have complete freedom and as his mother/ caregiver, I would too!  This would be a complete breakthrough in the spinal cord injury (SCI) world.”

Make Our Vision a Reality: Dignify Therapeutics

Our vision at Dignify Therapeutics is to restore voluntary control of bladder and bowel for people with spinal cord injury, spina bifida, multiple sclerosis and other neurological conditions. We are currently seeking angel investors to help our team of scientists make this vision a reality for Troy and for thousands of others like him that are dependent on bladder and bowel programs. Learn more about investing in Dignify Therapeutics today.

Find out more about Troy on the family’s Facebook page, where you can see a video of him walking during his last therapy session at Project Walk.

The post Troy Russell’s Spinal Cord Injury Story appeared first on Dignify Therapeutics.