LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J.,
Nov. 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Celsion
Corporation (NASDAQ: CLSN), a fully-integrated oncology company
focused on the development of a portfolio of innovative cancer
treatments, including directed chemotherapies, immunotherapies and
RNA- or DNA-based therapies for the treatment of cancer and other
difficult-to-treat diseases, today announced that Edwin De Wit,
M.D., will join the Company as Senior Vice President and Head of
Medical, Europe. Dr. De Wit brings
over 20 years of experience in clinical operations and research in
the pharma and biotech industry, having held roles at companies
such as Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers
Squibb and Pfizer.
"Dr. De Wit's international experience and expertise in
pharmaceutical strategy and in the design and execution of large
oncology programs will be invaluable as he establishes broad
oversight of Celsion's interests in Europe," said Michael
H. Tardugno, Celsion's chairman, president and chief
executive officer. "Further, our desire to expand the
European Early Access Program (EAP) to include primary liver and
recurrent chest wall breast cancer patients will be better realized
given Edwin's prior experience with EAP. Having previously
spearheaded an EAP Program for an oncology therapeutic in
Europe, I am confident that Edwin
will provide the solid leadership to fully support our relationship
with myTomorrows, a Dutch company with expertise in EAP and our
partner. Additionally, as we expand our clinical trial
footprint, now representing multiple indications and 17 clinical
sites in Europe, we are committed
to building an international staff to effectively support these
efforts which are expected to be largely self-funded from our EAP
program. We are very pleased to welcome Edwin to the Celsion
team and the leadership that he brings."
"This is a monumental time for Celsion, as the Company leverages
the compelling data emerging from its ThermoDox program to support
clinical programs in Europe and
provide access to liver cancer and recurrent chest wall breast
cancer patients who are in desperate need of new treatment
options," said Dr. De Wit. "I look forward to working with the team
to further advance our global initiatives."
Most recently, Dr. De Wit served as Head of Medical,
Europe & Middle East and Africa at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary
of Amgen, focused on developing cancer therapeutics. In this role,
he led the design and implementation of strategic clinical
development and medical affairs plans for Onyx's Oncology and
Hematology operations at the Company's regional headquarters,
including the initiation of an Early Access Program in Europe. Prior to Onyx, Dr. De Wit served as
Executive Director of Oncology Clinical Research at Boehringer
Ingelheim from 2008-2012 where he was responsible for the
development of novel anti-cancer agents in various stages of
development. He also held leadership roles in the area of Oncology
Clinical Development at Bristol-Myers Squibb from 2005-2008 and at
Pfizer from 2002-2005, after having spent over 10 years in clinical
operations roles at Smithkline Beecham, Ferring Pharmaceuticals and
Vitaresc Biotech.
About Celsion Corporation
Celsion is a fully-integrated oncology company focused on
developing a portfolio of innovative cancer treatments, including
directed chemotherapies, immunotherapies and RNA- or DNA-based
therapies. The Company's lead program is ThermoDox®, a proprietary
heat-activated liposomal encapsulation of doxorubicin, currently in
Phase III development for the treatment of primary liver cancer and
in Phase II development for the treatment of recurrent chest wall
breast cancer. The pipeline also includes GEN-1, a DNA-based
immunotherapy for the localized treatment of ovarian and brain
cancers. Celsion has two platform technologies for the
development of novel nucleic acid-based immunotherapies and other
anti-cancer DNA or RNA therapies, including TheraPlas™ and
TheraSilence™. For more information on Celsion, visit our
website: http://www.celsion.com.
Celsion wishes to inform readers that forward-looking
statements in this release are made pursuant to the "safe harbor"
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties including, without
limitation, unforeseen changes in the course of research and
development activities and in clinical trials; the uncertainties of
and difficulties in analyzing interim clinical data, particularly
in small subgroups that are not statistically significant; FDA and
regulatory uncertainties and risks; the significant expense, time,
and risk of failure of conducting clinical trials; the need for
Celsion to evaluate its future development plans; possible
acquisitions or licenses of other technologies, assets or
businesses; possible actions by customers, suppliers, competitors,
regulatory authorities; and other risks detailed from time to time
in the Celsion's periodic reports and prospectuses filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Celsion assumes no
obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that
become untrue because of subsequent events, new information or
otherwise.
Celsion Investor Contact
Jeffrey W. Church
Sr. Vice President and CFO
609-482-2455
jchurch@celsion.com
Celsion Media Contacts
Harriet Shelare
860-483-1721
Director, Communications
hshelare@celsion.com
Bill Berry
Berry & Company
212-253-8881
bberry@berrypr.com
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SOURCE Celsion Corporation