La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co. announced the addition of four new members to its advisory board for the development of LJPC-401, La Jolla's novel formulation of hepcidin. The advisory board is composed of internationally renowned clinicians, highly respected academics and key opinion leaders in the fields of gastroenterology, hematology and oncology.

The new members of the advisory board are Paul Adams, M.D., Victor Gordeuk, M.D., Ashutosh Lal, M.D., and Gordon McLaren, M.D. Paul Adams, M.D., is a Professor of Medicine and Chief of Gastroenterology at the University of Western Ontario, in London, Ontario. Dr. Adams has been working in the field of hemochromatosis and iron overload since 1977. Victor Gordeuk, M.D., is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Illinois.

Dr. Gordeuk specializes in treatment of patients with sickle cell disease and in conducting research to understand new ways to prevent complications of this condition. He has expertise in treating disorders of iron metabolism, including iron overload and iron deficiency. He also has a research and treatment interest in patients with congenital or unexplained polycythemia.

Ashutosh Lal, M.D., is a Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist and the Director of the thalassemia program at the University of California, San Francisco, Benioff Children's Hospital in Oakland, CA. Dr. Lal's research areas of interest are in the development of intensive chelation regimens for transfusional iron overload, iron-induced cellular injury, the natural history of hemoglobin H disease and micronutrient inadequacy in hemoglobinopathies. Gordon McLaren, M.D., is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the University of California, Irvine.

Dr. McLaren's research interests include disorders of iron metabolism, focusing on the areas of hemochromatosis and other forms of iron overload, control of intestinal iron absorption and regulation of cellular iron-binding proteins.