LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J.,
April 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Celsion
Corporation (NASDAQ: CLSN) announced today that data supporting the
development of ThermoDox®, its proprietary heat-activated liposomal
encapsulation of doxorubicin, plus high intensity focused
ultrasound (HIFU) were presented on April 5,
2014 at the 14th International Symposium on Therapeutic
Ultrasound in Las Vegas,
Nevada. In a presentation entitled "Combining Thermosensitive
Liposomes with Ultrasound," Mark
Dewhirst, D.V.M., Ph.D., the Gustavo S. Montana Professor of
Radiation Oncology and Vice Director for Basic Science in the Duke
Cancer Institute, presented data demonstrating the potential of
ThermoDox plus HIFU to maximize drug delivery to the targeted tumor
site. Celsion is exploring the potential of ThermoDox in
combination with HIFU as a non-invasive treatment for a variety of
cancers, including pancreatic cancer, Glioblastoma Multiforme
(GBM), metastatic liver cancer, and breast cancer. Dr. Dewhirst's
presentation is available on the Celsion website at
www.celsion.com.
"ThermoDox plus HIFU holds tremendous promise as a non-invasive
treatment option in indications where conventional treatment is not
satisfactory and where failure to control local disease causes
morbidity or mortality," stated Dr. Dewhirst. "There are a number
of tumor types for which this approach may be appropriate,
including cancers of the brain, liver, pancreas or breast, and the
data provides a strong rationale for continued development of
ThermoDox plus HIFU to further elucidate its potential in these
various tumor types."
"Our ThermoDox plus HIFU development programs allow us to
leverage the potential of ThermoDox into additional indications
beyond our current clinical focus in primary liver cancer and
recurrent chest wall breast cancer, and we have formed multiple
indication-specific collaborations with leading institutions to
support our efforts in this area," stated Michael H. Tardugno, Celsion's President and
Chief Executive Officer. "We continue to advance a number of
programs using this approach, and look forward to initiating
clinical studies of ThermoDox plus HIFU in metastatic liver cancer
later this year."
Celsion is currently exploring the potential of ThermoDox in
combination with HIFU in a variety of cancer indications:
Metastatic Liver Cancer: Celsion has a collaboration
agreement with the University of Oxford
to begin an early phase clinical study of ThermoDox plus HIFU in
the treatment of metastatic liver cancer. The trial, which is
supported by the National Institute for Health Research Oxford
Biomedical Research Centre, will be carried out as a
multidisciplinary collaboration between Celsion, the Oxford University Institute of Biomedical
Engineering and the Oxford University
Hospitals NHS Trust. Enrollment of the first patient in this
clinical study is targeted for 2014.
Breast Cancer: Celsion is the key industry sponsor of
HIFU CHEM, a clinical program with the University of Utrecht (Netherlands) funded under a $10 million European Cooperative Grant to
evaluate the potential of MR-guided HIFU + ThermoDox for the
treatment of solid tumor cancers, including breast cancer.
Pancreatic Cancer: With the Focused Ultrasound
Foundation, the Celsion is supporting preclinical studies exploring
the use of ThermoDox plus HIFU for the treatment of pancreatic
cancer.
Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM): Celsion recently announced
that through a grant, it has funded a program to evaluate the
potential of ThermoDox® to treat certain brain cancer tumors,
notably Glioblastoma Multiforme or GBM. The grant was provided
to Dr. Costas D. Arvanitis at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and
Harvard Medical School and will fund
studies using ThermoDox in combination with MR-guided HIFU to treat
brain tumors, initially in animal models.
About Celsion Corporation
Celsion is dedicated to the development and commercialization of
innovative cancer drugs, including tumor-targeting treatments using
focused heat energy in combination with heat-activated liposomal
drug technology. Celsion has research, license or
commercialization agreements with leading institutions, including
the National Institutes of Health, Duke
University Medical Center, University
of Hong Kong, the University of Pisa, the UCLA Department of Medicine, the
Kyungpook National University Hospital,
the Beijing Cancer Hospital and the University of Oxford. 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; HEAT Study data is subject to further
verification and review by the HEAT Study Data Management
Committee; the need for Celsion to evaluate its future development
plans; possible acquisitions or licenses of other technologies,
assets or businesses or the possible failure to make such
acquisitions or licenses; 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
jchurch@celsion.com
SOURCE Celsion Corporation