Palo Alto, CA. – October 24, 2013 – PrognosDx Health, Inc., a leader in the field of cancer epigenetics, today announced that industry veteran Joseph J. Vallner, Ph.D., formerly President & Chief Operating Officer at Cell Genesys, has been named the company's new Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Vallner succeeds founding President & CEO Kamran Tahamtanzadeh, who will continue as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
PrognosDx's Board of Directors Member and Executive Director of the Molecular Medicine Research Institute Edward P. Amento, M.D., said, "We are honored to have Dr. Vallner join our team as the company is nearing completion of clinical validation of its tissue-based, prognostics, predictive and theranostic histone biomarkers for multiple cancers. Preparations are underway to launch the first PrognoScore ™ test for prediction of clinical outcome and assessment of probability of risk of recurrence in patients with localized, low-grade prostate cancer who may have already opted for surgery and need to know the risk of recurrence or are weighing treatment options following a positive needle biopsy. Dr. Vallner's in-depth commercialization and executive experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry as COO and CEO of companies with breakthrough solutions provides the appropriate experience to lead PrognosDx Health to its next phase of growth, poised to become a leading molecular diagnostic company with a strong pipeline of cost-effective, robust and reimbursable prognostic and predictive tests.
The shorter-to-market time horizon and clinical value of the company's solutions are the driving forces for PrognosDx to become a fully integrated commercial organization. Dr. Amento added, "We especially would like to thank our Chairman Kamran Tahamtanzadeh for his profound contributions, leadership, and unwavering commitment to PrognosDx's success with the ultimate goal to help improve the lives of cancer patients."
Dr. Vallner said in an interview conducted in the company's new laboratory at the Molecular Medicine Research Institute in Sunnyvale, CA: "PrognosDx's broad epigenetic technology and applications across multiple therapeutic and theranostic indications in cancer is based on strong scientific foundations and the proven clinical relevance of global histone modifications as unparalleled cancer biomarkers." I am committed to building upon the prior successes of PrognosDx as a technology driven company and help transition it into a fully integrated commercial stage organization."
Dr. Vallner has previously led multiple innovative corporations including: SEQUUS Pharmaceuticals, Cell Genesys , and Lumera Corp and served on the board of directors of companies and organizations including: California Healthcare Institute (CHI), Lumera Corporation, Gigoptix and Quiet Therapeutics.
Dr. Vallner has been involved in multiple mergers and acquisitions including those while at SEQUUS (acquired by Alza, now Johnston & Johnston), Cell Genesys (acquisition of Calydon), Lumera (acquired by Gigoptix) and others.
About PrognosDx Health, Inc.
PrognosDx is a biotechnology company committed to eliminating the trial and error approach to cancer treatment through analysis of global histone modifications, powerful master switches of the genome and gatekeepers to aggressive tumor metabolism that reveal critical information about risk of recurrence of disease or potential to respond to specific types of treatment. This revolutionary epigenetic technology in the short-term can help physicians personalize patient treatments by identifying molecular signatures specific to each patient's tumor cells and in the long run revolutionizes drug development by targeting aggressive cancer cells.
For more information, please visit the company's Website at www.prognosdx.com.
PrognoScore™ is the trademark of PrognosDx Health, Inc.