Encysive Pharmaceuticals Is Gold Sponsor of Scleroderma Foundation’s 2006 National Gala

The Scleroderma Foundation is proud to announce that Encysive Pharmaceuticals, Gold Sponsor of the National Conference, will serve the same capacity at the Foundation’s National Gala. Encysive (www.encysive.com) has received approval for its pulmonary arterial hypertension drug, Thelin, in Europe. It is being marketed now in the United Kingdom and Germany, and will later be available to residents in other European countries. Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (high blood pressure in the lungs) is a complication of scleroderma, occurring in 15–25 percent of patients.

The Gala is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 14, at the luxurious Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas. Invitations are now available for download and should be arriving in the mail sometime during the week of September 18.

The Gala will honor four individuals who have made a significant contribution toward carrying out the Foundation’s mission and finding a cure for the disease. The honorees are: Sen. Harry Reid, (D-NV), Foundation spokesperson and entertainer Jason Alexander, scleroderma physician/researcher/author Maureen Mayes, M.D., and Cindy Nolen, former Nevada Chapter president and current Foundation board member. Nolen has lived with scleroderma since 1995.

Comedienne Carol Siskind will emcee the program, and comedian George Wallace and Frankie Scinta will provide the entertainment. The Gala begins at 6 p.m. with a cocktail hour and auction, followed by dinner, entertainment and the awards ceremony. The Nevada Chapter is organizing the event.

Please visit our website regularly for Gala updates.