SAN DIEGO, Dec. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- MEI Pharma,
Inc. (Nasdaq: MEIP), an oncology company focused on the clinical
development of novel therapies for cancer, today announced the
appointment of Christine White,
M.D., as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Dr. White joined the
Company's board in August 2010 and
has served as its Lead Director since the retirement of former
Chairman, Professor Bryan R.G.
Williams, Ph.D., in January
2013.
"Christine is a highly experienced director who has demonstrated
her skill at leading a board over the past two years as our Lead
Director," said Daniel P. Gold,
Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of MEI Pharma. "Her
role in the clinical development, regulatory approval and
commercialization of the blockbuster cancer drug
Rituxan®, coupled with her years of hands-on experience
treating patients as a clinical oncologist, continue to offer a
valuable perspective to our board and management team as we prepare
for the initiation of our Phase III study of Pracinostat and
beyond."
Dr. White spent nearly a decade with Biogen Idec from 1996 to
2005, most recently as Senior Vice President of Global Medical
Affairs. Previously, she served as Director of Clinical Oncology
Research at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center in San Diego and in the Department of Medicine at
Scripps Memorial Hospitals in La
Jolla and Encinitas,
California, most recently as Chairman. Dr. White has served
as a member of the board of directors of Arena Pharmaceuticals, a
commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, since 2006. She
previously served as a member of the board of directors at Genoptix
Medical Laboratory until its acquisition by Novartis in 2011,
Monogram Biosciences until its acquisition by LabCorp in 2009 and
Pharmacyclics (now Abbvie). Dr. White earned her B.A. in Biology
and her M.D. from the University of
Chicago. She is Board certified in both Internal Medicine
and Medical Oncology.
"It has been a privilege to serve with my fellow directors over
the past five years and I look forward to continuing that effort in
this new role as Chairman," said Dr. White. "This is a highly
functioning and well-rounded board that draws from a wealth of
experience in all facets of the drug development business. I am
excited about MEI Pharma's portfolio of clinical drug candidates
and committed to working with our entire board and management team
to realize their potential while building shareholder value."
About MEI Pharma
MEI Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: MEIP) is a San Diego-based oncology company focused on
the clinical development of novel therapies for cancer. The
Company's portfolio of drug candidates includes Pracinostat, a
potential best-in-class, oral HDAC inhibitor that is expected to
enter a Phase III registration study in combination with
azacitidine for the treatment of elderly patients with newly
diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in the second half of 2016.
The Company is also developing ME-344, a novel mitochondrial
inhibitor that has shown evidence of clinical activity in
refractory solid tumors, and ME-401 (formerly PWT143), a highly
selective, oral PI3K delta inhibitor that is expected to enter a
Phase Ib study for the treatment of B-cell malignancies in the
first half of 2016. For more information, please visit
www.meipharma.com.
Under U.S. law, a new drug cannot be marketed until it has
been investigated in clinical studies and approved by the FDA as
being safe and effective for the intended use. Statements included
in this press release that are not historical in nature are
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe
harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. You should be aware that our actual results could differ
materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements,
which are based on management's current expectations and are
subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not
limited to, our failure to successfully commercialize our product
candidates; costs and delays in the development and/or FDA
approval, or the failure to obtain such approval, of our product
candidates; uncertainties or differences in interpretation in
clinical trial results; our inability to maintain or enter into,
and the risks resulting from our dependence upon, collaboration or
contractual arrangements necessary for the development,
manufacture, commercialization, marketing, sales and distribution
of any products; competitive factors; our inability to protect our
patents or proprietary rights and obtain necessary rights to third
party patents and intellectual property to operate our business;
our inability to operate our business without infringing the
patents and proprietary rights of others; general economic
conditions; the failure of any products to gain market acceptance;
our inability to obtain any additional required financing;
technological changes; government regulation; changes in industry
practice; and one-time events. We do not intend to update any of
these factors or to publicly announce the results of any revisions
to these forward-looking statements.
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SOURCE MEI Pharma, Inc.