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
[email protected]
Celsion Media Contacts
Harriet Shelare
860-483-1721
Director, Communications
[email protected]
Bill Berry
Berry & Company
212-253-8881
[email protected]
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SOURCE Celsion Corporation