Pipex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMEX: PP) recently announced that Nicholas Stergis, co-founder and vice chairman of the board of directors, has joined the executive management team as chief executive officer, replacing Steve H. Kanzer who will continue to serve as the company’s chairman. In addition, the company announced the resignations of Daniel J. Dorman, a director, and Dr. Charles L. Bisgaier, Pipex’s president, effective immediately.

As an original co-founder of Pipex Therapeutics, Inc., the predecessor company, Mr. Stergis has been vice chairman of the company’s board of directors since March 2007. He has also served as Pipex’s chief operating officer from 2001 until October 2006. Prior to co-founding Pipex, Mr. Stergis was co-founder, chief operating officer and director of Developmental Therapeutics, Inc., a cardiovascular drug development company. Mr. Stergis earned his his Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University at Albany, State University of New York, and his Master of

Pluristem Therapeutics works to commercialize cellular bio-therapies for the treatment of several degenerative, ischemic and autoimmune conditions. In a release that was largely overlooked last week, Pluristem conveyed the success of recent clinical trials, showing the pronounced effectiveness of its PLacental eXpanded (PLX) cells in treating Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

Pluristem defines its PLX product as mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) that have been expanded using the company’s proprietary PluriX™ 3-D bioreactor. Basically, MSCs are undifferentiated, protoplasmic placental cells.

In the study conducted, mice which were afflicted with IBD were administered PLX cells intrarectally, while a control group was treated with a saline solution. Pluristem’s treatment was shown to greatly reduce colon lesions associated with IBD in both macroscopic and microscopic evaluations, as compared to the control subjects.

Pluristem President and CEO, Zami Aberman stated: “This trial’s favorable results, which demonstrate our PLX cells’ ability to treat Inflammatory Bowel Disease, as