CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cerulean Pharma Inc. (Nasdaq: CERU) today announced the appointment of Gregg Beloff, J.D., M.B.A., as Interim Chief Financial Officer.
"He has been the CFO of public and private life sciences companies and has a background in healthcare investment banking, so we will benefit from Gregg's deep knowledge of the life sciences industry and from his experience in managing, growing and building finance organizations."
"Gregg brings extensive financial experience and leadership to Cerulean," said Christopher D. T. Guiffre, President & Chief Executive Officer of Cerulean. "He has been the CFO of public and private life sciences companies and has a background in healthcare investment banking, so we will benefit from Gregg's deep knowledge of the life sciences industry and from his experience in managing, growing and building finance organizations."
Mr. Beloff joins Cerulean as a member of Danforth Advisors, a consulting firm specializing in providing financial and strategic support to life sciences companies. Previously, Mr. Beloff served as the CFO of two public and three privately held companies, in addition to his consulting clients. In these roles, he has managed finance, accounting, corporate communications, human resources, information technology, facilities, legal, intellectual property, business development, and manufacturing functions. Mr. Beloff holds a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, an M.B.A. from Carnegie Mellon University, and a B.A. in History from Middlebury College.
About CRLX101
CRLX101 is a nanoparticle-drug conjugate (NDC) designed to concentrate in tumors and slowly release its anti-cancer payload, camptothecin, inside tumor cells. CRLX101 inhibits topoisomerase 1 (topo 1), which is involved in cellular replication, and also inhibits hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), which research suggests is a master regulator of cancer cell survival mechanisms. CRLX101 has shown activity in four different tumor types, both as monotherapy and in combination with other cancer treatments. CRLX101 is currently in Phase 2 clinical development and has been dosed in more than 250 patients. CRLX101 has Fast Track designation in combination with Avastin® in metastatic renal cell carcinoma and Orphan Drug designation in ovarian cancer.
About CRLX301
CRLX301 is a dynamically tumor-targeted NDC designed to concentrate in tumors and slowly release its anti-cancer payload, docetaxel, inside tumor cells. In preclinical studies, CRLX301 delivers up to 10 times more docetaxel into tumors, compared to an equivalent milligram dose of commercially available docetaxel and was superior to docetaxel in seven of seven animal models, with a statistically significant survival benefit seen in five of those seven models. In addition, preclinical data show that CRLX301 had lower toxicity than has been reported with docetaxel in similar preclinical studies. CRLX301 is currently in Phase 1 clinical development.
About Cerulean Pharma
The Cerulean team is committed to improving treatment for people living with cancer. We apply our Dynamic Tumor Targeting Platform to create a portfolio of NDCs designed to selectively attack tumor cells, reduce toxicity by sparing the body's normal cells, and enable therapeutic combinations. Our first platform-generated candidate, CRLX101, is in multiple clinical trials in combination with other cancer treatments, all of which aim to unlock the power of combination therapy. Our second platform-generated candidate, CRLX301, is in a Phase 1/2a clinical trial. For more information, please visit www.ceruleanrx.com.
About Cerulean's Dynamic Tumor Targeting™ Platform
Cerulean's Dynamic Tumor Targeting Platform creates NDCs that are designed to provide safer and more effective cancer treatments. We believe our NDCs concentrate their anti-cancer payloads inside tumors while sparing normal tissue because they are small enough to pass through the "leaky" vasculature present in tumors but are too large to pass through the wall of healthy blood vessels. Once inside tumors, our NDCs enter tumor cells where they slowly release anti-cancer payloads from within the tumor cells.
Cautionary Note on Forward Looking Statements
Any statements in this press release about our future expectations, plans and prospects, including statements about the clinical development of our product candidates, statements about our estimated research and development expenses and sufficiency of cash to fund specified use of cash and other statements containing the words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "hypothesize," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "target," "would," and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: the uncertainties inherent in the initiation of clinical trials, availability and timing of data from ongoing and future clinical trials and the results of such trials, whether preliminary results from a clinical trial will be predictive of the final results of that trial or whether results of early clinical trials will be indicative of the results of later clinical trials, expectations for regulatory approvals, availability of funding sufficient for our foreseeable and unforeseeable operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements and other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 6, 2015, and in other filings that we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, any forward-looking statements included in this press release represent our views only as of the date of this release and should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date. We specifically disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements included in this press release.
Avastin® is a trademark of Genentech, Inc.
Contacts
Cerulean Pharma Inc.
Aurora Krause, 617-551-9627
Corporate Communications
[email protected]
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