Stem Cell Therapeutics Strengthens its Board of Directors
March 10 2014 - 7:00AM
Marketwired
Stem Cell Therapeutics Strengthens its Board of Directors
Adds US industry veterans with broad financial and clinical
expertise
TORONTO, CANADA--(Marketwired - Mar 10, 2014) - Stem Cell
Therapeutics Corp. (TSX-VENTURE:SSS)(OTCQX:SCTPF), an
immuno-oncology company developing cancer stem cell-related
therapeutics, today announced that Mr. Luke Beshar and Dr. Thomas
Reynolds have been appointed to the Company's Board of
Directors.
Luke Beshar is
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of NPS
Pharmaceuticals. He joined the company in 2007 and has been
responsible for financial management, investor relations,
information technology, technical operations, supply- chain
management, facilities, project management, contracts &
outsourcing, and alliance management. Mr. Beshar has utilized his
30 years of experience and strategic and financial expertise to
help transform NPS into a global biopharmaceutical company that is
bringing innovative therapies to patients with rare diseases around
the world. Under his financial leadership, NPS secured
approximately $400M of capital and its market capitalization
increased from $180 million to more than $3 billion. Prior to
joining NPS, Mr. Beshar served as Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer of Cambrex Corporation, a global life
sciences company. At Cambrex, his accomplishments included raising
approximately $600 million of new capital, building a high
performance global finance team, and leading a process of
evaluating strategic alternatives, which resulted in the sale of
non-strategic operations for $460 million and an $11 per share
special dividend to shareholders. Mr. Beshar began his career with
Arthur Andersen & Co. and is a certified public accountant. He
obtained his bachelor's degree in Accounting and Finance from
Michigan State University and is a graduate of The Executive
Program at the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University
of Virginia.
Dr. Thomas Reynolds
served as Chief Medical Officer of Seattle Genetics from March 2007
until his retirement in February 2013. While at Seattle Genetics,
he was responsible for building and leading an integrated clinical
development, regulatory and medical affairs organization,
highlighted by the development and approval of ADCETRIS®. From 2002
to 2007, Dr. Reynolds served at ZymoGenetics (acquired by
Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2010), most recently as Vice President,
Medical Affairs, where he oversaw the clinical development and
regulatory filing of RECOTHROM®. Previously, he was Vice President,
Clinical Affairs at Targeted Genetics, and before that he was at
Somatix Therapy (acquired by Cell Genesys in 1997). Dr. Reynolds
received his M.D. and Ph.D. in Biophysics from Stanford University
and a B.A. in Chemistry from Dartmouth College.
Stem Cell
Therapeutics (SCT) also announced that two long-serving directors,
Mr. Dean Peterson and Dr. James DeMesa, have retired from the
Board.
"We are appreciative
of the strong support and contributions from Dean and James in the
past, particularly in the recent period when we jointly undertook
to transform the company. Dean Peterson was the architect behind
the reformation of the company and helped recruit the board that
has undertaken this task. We are grateful to him and James for
their integrity and enthusiasm" remarked SCT's Chairman, Dr. Calvin
Stiller. "The addition of Mr. Beshar and Dr. Reynolds, two highly
accomplished professionals, to the Board provides us with
invaluable skills and expertise in finance and clinical
development, areas of critical importance to our future success.
The composition of the current Board reflects our new strategic
goals, our new focus on immunotherapy and oncology, as well as our
new US institutional investor-base and capital markets
aspirations."
"We have promising
assets, an exceptional management team, a board second to none, and
we are well funded. As I leave the board I have an elevated level
of confidence in our successful pursuit of value creation,"
commented Mr. Peterson.
The company also
announced that the Board of Directors has granted options to
purchase 200,000 common shares of the Corporation to each of the
newly appointed directors. The options were issued at an exercise
price of $0.63 per share for a ten-year term. The grant of options
is subject to acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange.
About Stem Cell
Therapeutics:
Stem Cell
Therapeutics Corp. (SCT) is an immuno-oncology company advancing
cancer stem cell discoveries into novel and innovative cancer
therapies. Building on over half a century of leading and
groundbreaking Canadian stem cell research, the company is
supported by established links to a group of prominent Toronto
academic research institutes and cancer treatment centers,
representing one of the world's most acclaimed cancer research
hubs. The Company has two premier preclinical programs, SIRPaFc and
a CD200 monoclonal antibody (mAb), which target two key
immunoregulatory pathways that tumor cells exploit to evade the
host immune system. SIRPaFc is an antibody-like fusion protein that
blocks the activity of CD47, a molecule that is upregulated on
cancer stem cells in AML and several other tumors. The CD200 mAb is
a fully human monoclonal antibody that blocks the activity of
CD200, an immunosuppressive molecule that is overexpressed by many
hematopoietic and solid tumors. SCT's clinical stage programs
include the recently in-licensed program focused on the structure
of tigecycline, which is currently being evaluated in a
multi-centre Phase I study in patients with acute myeloid leukemia
(AML), as well as TTI-1612, a non-cancer stem cell asset that
recently completed a 28-patient Phase I trial in interstitial
cystitis ("IC") patients. For more information, visit:
www.stemcellthera.com
Caution Regarding
Forward-Looking Information:
This press release
may contain forward-looking statements, which reflect SCT's current
expectation regarding future events. These forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual
results, events or developments to be materially different from any
future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Such factors include changing market
conditions; the successful and timely completion of pre-clinical
and clinical studies; the establishment of corporate alliances; the
impact of competitive products and pricing; new product development
risks; uncertainties related to the regulatory approval process or
the ability to obtain drug product in sufficient quantity or at
standards acceptable to health regulatory authorities to complete
clinical trials or to meet commercial demand; and other risks
detailed from time to time in SCT's ongoing quarterly and annual
reporting. Except as required by applicable securities laws, SCT
undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
Neither TSX Venture
Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is
defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp.James ParsonsChief Financial
Officer+1 416 595
0627jparsons@stemcellthera.comwww.stemcellthera.comInvestor
Contact:Jeff Ramson/Kirin SmithProActive Capital+1
646-863-6519jramson@proactivecapital.comksmith@proactivecapital.com
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