SAN DIEGO, Aug. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Sorrento
Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SRNE; "Sorrento"), an antibody-centric,
clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing new treatments
for cancer, pain management, inflammation and autoimmune diseases,
today announced that Dr. Jerome
Zeldis, M.D., Ph.D., former Chief Medical Officer of Celgene
Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG; "Celgene"), has been appointed to the
position of Chief Medical Officer and President of Clinical
Development.
Dr. Jerome ("Jerry") Zeldis joins Sorrento after a nearly
20-year career at Celgene during which he was instrumental in
growing Celgene into one of the leading global biopharmaceutical
companies. Most recently, Dr. Zeldis held the position
of Chief Executive Officer of Celgene Global Health and Chief
Medical Officer of Celgene. In that capacity, Dr. Zeldis oversaw
clinical trials using Celgene's molecules. Prior to Celgene,
Dr. Zeldis was the Associate Director of Clinical Research at
Sandoz Research Institute and the Director of Medical Development
at Janssen Pharmaceutical Research Institute.
Dr. Zeldis received his medical training in Internal Medicine at
the UCLA Center for the Health Sciences and was a clinical and
research fellow in gastroenterology at Massachusetts General
Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Additionally, he served
as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, an Associate Professor of
Medicine at the University of
California, a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at
Cornell Medical School, and a Professor of Clinical Medicine at the
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New
Brunswick, NJ. Dr. Zeldis holds BA and MS degrees from
Brown University, and M.Phil., M.D.,
and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University. Dr. Zeldis has
published 122 peer-reviewed articles and is a named inventor on 43
US patents. He currently serves as Chairman of the board of
Alliqua, Semorex, and Trek Therapeutics, Vice Chairman of MetaStat
and serves on the boards of Kalytera Therapeutics, BioSig
Technologies, IR Biosciences Holdings, PTC Therapeutics, and
Soligenix.
"We are thrilled to have a highly accomplished biotech veteran
of Jerry's stature join Sorrento to guide, drive and accelerate our
clinical development," said Dr. Henry Ji, President & CEO
of Sorrento. "His expertise and track record in highly successful
drug development will be invaluable to progress the clinical
development of our program pipeline towards FDA approval and
commercialization. Jerry's appointment highlights our focus on
investing in clinical development and our steadfast commitment to
Sorrento shareholders following the recent $150 million private placement led by Ally Bridge
Group completed in June of this year."
Dr. Zeldis stated, "Sorrento has an impressive portfolio of
unique assets that I believe will clearly differentiate themselves
in addressing unmet medical needs in a multitude of markets.
I greatly look forward to joining the team that is growing Sorrento
into a leading biopharmaceutical company and using my experience to
build a world-class clinical and regulatory organization for the
efficient, high-quality clinical development of Sorrento's
cutting-edge immunotherapies."
About Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.
Sorrento is an antibody-centric, clinical stage
biopharmaceutical company developing new treatments for cancer,
pain management, inflammation and autoimmune diseases. Sorrento's
lead products are late-stage biosimilar and biobetter antibodies,
RTX for intractable cancer pain, as well as clinical CAR-T and
CAR-NK therapies targeting solid tumors.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release and any statements made for and during any
presentation or meeting contain forward-looking statements related
to Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. and its subsidiaries under the safe
harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those projected. Forward-looking statements include statements
regarding the expectations for Sorrento's and its subsidiaries'
technologies and collaborations; Sorrento's ability to leverage the
expertise of its employees and partners to assist the company in
the execution of its strategies; and Sorrento's prospects.
Risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results
to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in our
forward-looking statements, include, but are not limited to: risks
related to Sorrento's and its subsidiaries' technologies and
prospects; risks related to seeking regulatory approvals and
conducting clinical trials; and other risks that are described in
Sorrento's most recent periodic reports filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, including Sorrento's Annual Report on Form
10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, as amended, and
subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, including the risk factors set forth in
those filings. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance
on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the
date of this release and we undertake no obligation to update any
forward-looking statement in this press release except as required
by law.
Sorrento® and the Sorrento logo are registered
trademarks of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.
All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their
respective owners.
© 2016 Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. All Rights
Reserved.
Logo -
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150105/167173LOGO
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dr-jerome-zeldis-md-phd-former-chief-medical-officer-of-celgene-to-join-sorrento-as-chief-medical-officer-and-president-of-clinical-development-300313186.html
SOURCE Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.