LOS ANGELES, Feb. 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- ImmunoCellular
Therapeutics, Ltd. ("ImmunoCellular") (NYSE MKT: IMUC) today
announced the appointment of Steven J.
Swanson, PhD, as Senior Vice President, Research. Dr.
Swanson will lead the Company's Stem-to-T-cell research program,
which utilizes the patient's own hematopoietic stem cells to drive
production of antigen-specific killer T-cells which then attack
cancer cells. He will be responsible for all programmatic research
and development, with the goal of identifying and advancing novel
antigen-specific Stem-to-T-cell product candidates to the clinic.
Dr. Swanson has more than 25 years of pharmaceutical and
biotechnology experience, with a specialty in immunology, and has
been an industry leader in advancing global standards for
immunogenicity assessment.
"Steve joins ImmunoCellular at an exciting time in our Company's
development. ICT-107, our lead dendritic cell cancer vaccine,
is expected to begin pivotal phase 3 testing in the US and EU in
the second half of the year. The Stem-to-T-cell research
program is an additional, complementary program to ICT-107 and our
other dendritic cell vaccines. Steve's expertise with respect to
this application of our existing technology furthers our goal of
becoming a leading cancer immunotherapy company," said Mr. Gengos.
"Steve's broad experience in immunology drug discovery and
development, as well as his regulatory knowledge and worldwide
reputation as an immunogenicity thought-leader will be valuable
assets to ImmunoCellular both in advancing this new stem cell
platform and potentially enhancing our dendritic cell vaccine
platform."
"I believe that ImmunoCellular's multi-platform approach to
developing cancer immunotherapeutic technologies increases
opportunities to advance the field of immune-oncology," said Dr.
Swanson. "I am excited to work with the ImmunoCellular team to
optimize and advance our Stem-to-T-cell technology. I believe that
our focus on engineering hematopoietic stem cells to generate
antigen-specific cancer-killing T-cells offers significant
advantages over competing immune-oncology approaches, in its
potential to induce robust and durable antitumor activity, and
address a broad range of intractable cancers."
Prior to joining ImmunoCellular, Dr. Swanson was an independent
consultant advising biopharmaceutical companies on basic immunology
research, bioanalytical procedures, immunogenicity assessment,
regulatory affairs and product quality. Dr. Swanson spent 15 years
at Amgen as Department Head for Clinical Immunology, a then-new
department providing immunogenicity and cytometry support for all
of Amgen's therapeutic proteins. Prior to joining Amgen, he led the
immunoassay laboratory in the Biotechnology department at Schering
Plough Research Institute. Dr. Swanson has been actively involved
in multiple industry professional associations, including the
American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS), where he
is a Fellow, and was a co-author of AAPS-sponsored Industry White
Papers that were incorporated into FDA and EMA Guidance for
Immunogenicity Assessment. He was also an industry representative
for the EMA Committee that developed the first Immunogenicity
Recommendations, and was engaged by the FDA to train reviewers on
immunogenicity assessment. Dr. Swanson has authored more than 60
publications. He holds a BA in chemistry/biology from North Central College, a PhD in microbiology from
the University of Iowa, and completed a
post-doctoral fellowship at The Ohio State
University.
About ImmunoCellular's Stem-to-T-Cell Program
In 2014, ImmunoCellular expanded its cancer immunotherapy
platform with antigen-specific T-cell technology licensed from the
California Institute of Technology
(Caltech). The licensing agreement provided exclusive rights to
novel technology for the development of certain antigen-specific
T-cell immunotherapies, which originated from the labs of
David Baltimore, PhD, Nobel
Laureate, President Emeritus, and Robert Andrews Millikan Professor
of Biology at Caltech. The technology utilizes the patient's own
hematopoietic stem cells to drive production of antigen-specific
killer T-cells which then attack cancer cells. ImmunoCellular plans
to utilize this technology to expand and complement its dendritic
cell-based cancer vaccine platform, with the goal of developing new
immunotherapies that kill cancer cells in a highly directed and
specific way, and that can function as single agents or in
combination approaches.
Caltech's technology has the potential to address the challenge,
and limitation, faced by CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) and TCR
(T-cell receptor) technologies, that is, the generation of a
limited, short-lived immune response. By putting T-cell receptors
into stem cells rather than into T-cells, the immune response can
be transformed into a long-lived and potent response that could
effectively treat previously resilient solid cancers. This
observation has been verified in animal models by investigators at
Caltech and the National Cancer Institute.
About ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd.
ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd. is a Los Angeles-based clinical-stage company that
is developing immune-based therapies for the treatment of brain and
other cancers. ImmunoCellular has concluded a phase II trial of its
lead product candidate, ICT-107, a dendritic cell-based vaccine
targeting multiple tumor-associated antigens for glioblastoma.
ImmunoCellular's pipeline also includes: ICT-121, a dendritic cell
vaccine targeting CD133; ICT-140, a dendritic cell vaccine
targeting ovarian cancer antigens and cancer stem cells; and the
Stem-to-T-cell research program which engineers the patient's
hematopoietic stem cells to generate antigen-specific cancer
killing T-cells. To learn more about ImmunoCellular, please visit
www.imuc.com.
Forward-Looking Statements for ImmunoCellular Therapeutics
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that
are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the
risk that ICT-107 can be further successfully developed or
commercialized and whether any of our technology programs can
result in successful product opportunities. Additional risks and
uncertainties are described in IMUC's most recently filed quarterly
report on Form 10-Q and annual report on Form 10-K. Except as
permitted by law, IMUC undertakes no obligation to update or revise
any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
Contact:
ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd.
Investor Relations
Jane Green
415.348.0010 direct
415.652.4819 mobile
jane@jmgcomm.com
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SOURCE ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd.