ImmunoCellular Therapeutics Announces Key Additions to Scientific Advisory Board

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics Announces Key Additions to Scientific Advisory Board
Friday December 11, 2009, 9:29 am EDT
LOS ANGELES, CA -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd. (OTCBB: IMUC) a biotechnology company that is focused on the development of novel immune-based cancer therapies, announced today that it has appointed three new members, Colonel George Peoples, M.D. Director of the Cancer Vaccine Development Program and Deputy Director of the United States Military Cancer Institute (USMCI), Dr. Constantine Ioannides, Professor of Immunology at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and Dr. Cohava Gelber, Chief Scientific & Technology Officer of ATCC to its Scientific Advisory Board. The recommendations were made with the strong support of the Company's Board of Directors, who cited these individuals' impressive research credentials and leadership within the field of immunotherapeutics and monoclonal antibodies for cancer research.

"Adding Drs. Peoples, Ioannides and Gelber to our SAB marks a significant step in adding thought leadership to the strategic development of our portfolio of innovative cancer products," commented Manish Singh, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Company. "Having such renowned and innovative thinkers on our Scientific Board will significantly enhance our ability to critically address issues that may arise in development of our therapeutics and should increase our ability to develop more effective, better tolerated treatments. Dr. Gelber and Dr. Ioannides are inventors of some of technologies that we are developing, and their insights as we develop these further will be critical in the potential success of these programs".

Prior to being appointed Director of the USMCI Clinical Trials Program, Dr. Peoples held positions as Chief of Surgical Oncology at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Director of the Cancer Vaccine Developmental Laboratory. He received his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine prior to receiving surgical training at Harvard Medical School's Brigham and Women's Hospital, where he was also a research fellow. In addition to his appointments at some of the military's most prestigious cancer research institutions, Peoples has significant research experience in the oncology field, with multiple peer-reviewed publications to his credit, including co-discovery credits on HER2/neu vaccines and a number of other anti-cancer vaccines from his time at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, where he completed training in surgical oncology.

Dr. Ioannides is a well-known and highly respected cancer immunologist, with over a hundred peer-reviewed articles in the scientific literature. Dr. Ioannides's current primary research interests are focused specifically on cancer stem cells. He currently serves as Professor of Immunology at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC). Dr. Ioannides has been involved with some of the most important advancements in the field of cancer immunology over the past 20 years and is the co-discoverer of the NeuVaxTM (E75) vaccine. The Company recently entered into an option agreement with MDACC for some of the cancer stem cell technologies that were developed at Dr. Ioannides's laboratory.

Dr. Gelber currently serves as the Chief Scientific & Technology Officer of ATCC, a position she has held since 2005. In this capacity she is responsible for a large group of scientists in numerous disciplines. Prior to joining ATCC, she served as Vice President - Research and Development for MannKind Corp., a public company developing therapeutics for diabetes, cancer and autoimmune diseases. She was responsible at that company for non clinical development and clinical immune safety of drugs from pre IND through phase III clinical trials. Dr. Gelber received her Ph.D. from the Weizmann Institute, her MBA degree from Cornell University and post doctorate training at Stanford University. Dr. Gelber has published numerous scientific manuscripts and textbook chapters and is the inventor of 7 granted patents and 49 patent applications. Dr. Gelber is one of the inventors of several monoclonal antibodies that the Company is developing including ICT-69 and ICT-109 and has served as a consultant to the Company in the past two years.

About ImmunoCellular Therapeutics
IMUC is a Los Angeles-based clinical-stage company that is developing immune-based therapies for the treatment of brain and other cancers. The company's "off the shelf" therapeutic vaccine product candidate targeting cancer stem cells for multiple cancer indications is targeted by IMUC to enter clinical trials for glioblastoma during the first quarter of 2010. IMUC also recently completed a Phase I trial of its dendritic cell-based clinical product candidate for glioblastoma. IMUC has entered into a research and license option deal with the Roche Group for one of its monoclonal antibodies for the diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer and multiple myeloma, that provides for potential licensing and milestone payments of $32MM and royalties if the Roche Group exercises its option and commercializes this antibody technology for multiple indications. IMUC is in pre-clinical development of another monoclonal antibody product candidate for the treatment of small cell lung cancer and pancreatic cancer, and is also evaluating its platform technology for monoclonal antibody discovery using differential immunization for diagnosing and treating multiple types of cancer. To learn more about IMUC, please visit  www.imuc.com.


Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, the risks associated with confirming in subsequent pre-clinical and clinical testing the data previously generated for the technology optioned from MD Anderson and the need to enter into a definitive license agreement with MD Anderson upon the Company exercising its option. Additional risks and uncertainties are described in IMUC's most recently filed SEC documents, such as its most recent annual report on Form 10-K, all quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and any current reports on Form 8-K. IMUC undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact Information:
ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd.
CEOcast, Inc.
Gary Nash
Investor Relations
Tel:   (212) 732-4300
Email: [email protected]

Source: ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd.