PharmaCyte Biotech Scientific Advisory Board Member Named Clinical Director of Prestigious Boston Cancer Center
November 10 2015 - 10:18AM
PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc. (OTCQB:PMCB), a clinical stage
biotechnology company focused on developing targeted treatments for
cancer and diabetes using its signature live-cell encapsulation
technology, Cell-in-a-Box®, announced today that Manuel Hidalgo,
MD, PhD, an internationally respected oncologist and a member of
PharmaCyte ’s Scientific Advisory Board, has been named Clinical
Director of the Leon V. & Marilyn L. Rosenberg Clinical Cancer
Center, part of the Cancer Center at the Beth Israel Deaconess
Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston. Dr. Hidalgo has also been
appointed Chief of the hospital’s Division of Hematology-Oncology.
In his role at the prestigious medical center, Dr. Hidalgo will
oversee all of BIDMC’s clinical cancer programs.
Dr. Hidalgo, whose groundbreaking work in
experimental cancer therapy and tumor model development has led to
key advances in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, will join the
BIDMC this month. He is currently serving as the Director of the
Clinical Research Program and Vice Director of Translational
Research at the Spanish National Cancer Center. Dr. Hidalgo also
holds faculty positions at University CEU San Pablo and Johns
Hopkins University.
Kenneth L. Waggoner, the Chief Executive Officer
of PharmaCyte Biotech, commented “We would like to offer Dr.
Hidalgo our sincerest congratulations on his appointment at such a
well-recognized center of excellence as the BIDMC. We are sure that
his expertise in treating pancreatic and other solid tumors will be
a great addition to the talent already at the Cancer Center of the
BIDMC and, most importantly, will help ensure that patients treated
at the Cancer Center receive the best and most up-to-date
treatments possible for their disease.”
The BIDMC Cancer Center consists of multiple
disciplines, including medical oncology, surgical oncology,
radiation oncology, radiology and pathology. Twenty-one specialty
patient-care programs focus on pancreatic cancer, bone-marrow
transplants, breast cancer, prostate cancer and biologic therapy,
among others. The Cancer Center, with 160 faculty members and more
than $70 million in annual research support, is also home to the
Cancer Clinical Trials Office, where hundreds of clinical trials
provide patients with access to promising new therapies. The BIDMC
is a founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center.
The BIDMC is a patient care, teaching and
research affiliate of the Harvard Medical School and consistently
ranks as a national leader among independent hospitals in National
Institutes of Health funding. The BIDMC is also clinically
affiliated with the Joslin Diabetes Center and Hebrew
Rehabilitation Center and is a research partner of the
Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and The Jackson Laboratory.
About PharmaCyte BiotechPharmaCyte Biotech is a
clinical stage biotechnology company focused on developing and
preparing to commercialize treatments for cancer and diabetes based
upon a proprietary cellulose-based live cell encapsulation
technology known as “Cell-in-a-Box®.” This unique and patented
technology will be used as a platform upon which treatments for
several types of cancer and diabetes are being developed.
PharmaCyte’s treatment for cancer involves
encapsulating genetically modified live cells capable of converting
an inactive chemotherapy drug (ifosfamide) into its active or
“cancer-killing” form. These encapsulated live cells are placed as
close to a cancerous tumor as possible. Once implanted in a
patient, ifosfamide is then given intravenously at one-third the
normal dose. The ifosfamide is carried by the circulatory system to
where the encapsulated cells have been placed. When ifosfamide,
which is normally activated in the liver, comes in contact with the
encapsulated live cells, activation of the drug takes place at the
source of the cancer without any side effects from the
chemotherapy. This “targeted chemotherapy” has proven remarkably
effective and safe to use in past clinical trials.
In addition to developing a novel treatment for
cancer, PharmaCyte is developing a treatment for Type 1 diabetes
and Type 2 insulin-dependent diabetes. PharmaCyte plans to
encapsulate a human cell line that has been genetically engineered
to produce, store and secrete insulin at levels in proportion to
the levels of blood sugar in the human body. The encapsulation will
be done using the Cell-in-a-Box® technology.
Safe Harbor This press release may contain
forward-looking statements regarding PharmaCyte Biotech and its
future events and results that involve inherent risks and
uncertainties. The words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate,"
"expect," "intend," "plan" and similar expressions, as they relate
to PharmaCyte or its management, are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. Important factors, many of which are
beyond the control of PharmaCyte, could cause actual results to
differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking
statements. They include PharmaCyte's ability to continue as a
going concern, delays or unsuccessful results in preclinical and
clinical trials, flaws or defects regarding its product candidates,
changes in relevant legislation or regulatory requirements,
uncertainty of protection of PharmaCyte’s intellectual property and
PharmaCyte’s continued ability to raise capital. PharmaCyte does
not assume any obligation to update any of these forward-looking
statements.
More information about PharmaCyte can be found
at www.PharmaCyte.com. It can also be obtained by contacting
Investor Relations.
Investor Relations:
PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc.
Investor Relations Department
Telephone: 917.595.2856