CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Sept. 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Diffusion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: DFFN), a biotechnology company developing new treatments for life-threatening medical conditions by improving the body’s ability to deliver oxygen to the areas where it is needed most, today announced the appointment of Jane H. Hollingsworth to its board of directors, effective immediately. Ms. Hollingsworth’s appointment expands the board to seven directors. In addition to serving as a director, she will join the Nominating & Corporate Governance, Compensation and Audit Committees of the Board.

Ms. Hollingsworth brings to Diffusion more than 25 years of experience founding and leading life sciences companies. In 2013 she co-founded Militia Hill Ventures, a business focused on building, growing and investing in high-quality life sciences companies, and has served as its Managing Partner since that time.

Separately, the Company reported that full regulatory approval has been received from Romanian regulatory authorities to begin enrollment in its 24-patient, open label lead-in Phase 1b clinical trial in hospitalized COVID-19 patients at the Romanian National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID).

“Jane is a seasoned and accomplished executive who brings to our board considerable leadership experience and knowledge of the life sciences industry,” said David G. Kalergis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Diffusion. “Additionally, her extensive public company experience as both an executive and a director will contribute to Diffusion’s growth plan. Jane will bring a valuable perspective to our board as we work to solve intractable medical problems, in particular in COVID-19 patients as we now are cleared by Romanian authorities to begin enrollment in the Romanian arm of our global COVID-19 clinical studies.”

“The strong foundational science and work done to develop that science to date has Diffusion well positioned for its next stage of growth. I look forward to helping the team take advantage of that foundation to bring new, better treatments to patients and great value to all Diffusion stakeholders,” commented Ms. Hollingsworth.

During her time at Militia Hill Ventures, Ms. Hollingsworth served as Executive Chair of Immunome Inc., a cancer immunotherapy company, and Talee Bio, a gene therapy company focused on cystic fibrosis that she co-founded. Prior to that she was co-founder and CEO of NuPathe Inc., a publicly-traded biopharmaceutical company focused on diseases of the central nervous system, and co-founder and EVP of Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company focused on urology and rare diseases. Ms. Hollingsworth began her career in the life sciences industry by serving as Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel of IBAH, Inc., a publicly-traded, multinational clinical research organization.

Ms. Hollingsworth received a B.A. from Gettysburg College and a J.D. from Villanova University.

About Diffusion Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Diffusion Pharmaceuticals Inc. is an innovative biotechnology company developing new treatments that improve the body’s ability to deliver oxygen to the areas where it is needed most, offering new hope for the treatment of life-threatening medical conditions. Diffusion’s lead drug TSC was originally developed in conjunction with the U.S. Office of Naval Research, which was seeking a way to treat multiple organ failure and its resulting mortality caused by low oxygen levels from blood loss on the battlefield. Evolutions in research have led to Diffusion’s focus today on addressing some of medicine’s most intractable and difficult-to-treat diseases, including multiple organ failure from respiratory distress, stroke and glioblastoma multiforme (“GBM”) brain cancer. In each of these diseases, lack of available oxygen presents a significant obstacle for medical providers and is the target for TSC’s novel mechanism. The Company is currently partnering with U.S. and European institutions on an expedited research program to develop TSC as a treatment for the low oxygen levels and associated multiple organ failure in COVID-19 patients.