SAN DIEGO and PENNINGTON, N.J., July
30, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- OncoSec Medical Incorporated
(OncoSec) (NASDAQ:ONCS), a company developing intratumoral cancer
immunotherapies, today announced the appointment of Robert W. Ashworth, Ph.D. as Vice President,
Regulatory. With more than 35 years of experience in the
pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Ashworth is well-versed in the
development of global regulatory strategies and has made
significant contributions to the FDA approval of 12 new drugs.
As Vice President, Regulatory, Dr. Ashworth will oversee
regulatory interactions involving the company's intratumoral IL-12
immunotherapy (TAVO) clinical programs, bringing his expertise to
OncoSec as the company anticipates multiple development milestones
during the remainder of 2018 and throughout 2019. OncoSec has
built a diverse clinical pipeline utilizing TAVO as a potential
treatment for multiple cancer indications either as a monotherapy
or in combination with leading anti-PD-1 checkpoint
inhibitors. OncoSec's combination studies include the rapidly
advancing PISCES/KEYNOTE-695 Phase 2 clinical trial, which is
evaluating the use of TAVO in combination with KEYTRUDA®
(pembrolizumab) for the treatment of metastatic melanoma.
"Over the past year, OncoSec has significantly expanded and
accelerated its clinical development activities requiring an
individual of Bob's expertise and experience to manage the overall
regulatory processes here and around the world," said Daniel J. O'Connor, President and Chief
Executive Officer of OncoSec. "As Vice President, Regulatory,
Bob will be responsible for leading our global regulatory strategy
as we advance our PISCES/KEYNOTE-695 study and other clinical
programs. Bob will direct all regulatory activities
supporting the product registration strategy, lead interactions
with health authorities on behalf of OncoSec, and coordinate joint
submissions with OncoSec's strategic partners as necessary."
Dr. Ashworth's career is highlighted by executive and
senior-level regulatory positions at several influential
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies spanning multiple drug
strategies and therapeutic indications. His extensive drug
development and regulatory experience includes small molecules,
therapeutic proteins and antibodies. Importantly, Dr.
Ashworth was instrumental in securing a groundbreaking
investigational new drug application (IND) for a personalized
medicine, neo-epitope program.
Prior to joining OncoSec, Dr. Ashworth served as Vice President,
Regulatory Affairs, Quality & Compliance for Advaxis, Inc.,
where he developed and executed the global regulatory strategy for
the company's immunotherapy platform and served as the company's
regulatory representative for clinical development programs
involving Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck. Before
Advaxis, Dr. Ashworth was Vice-President, Global Regulatory Affairs
at NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he built the company's
international regulatory department and was instrumental in
negotiating the approval of NATPARA (PTH) for
hypoparathyroidism. As Vice-President, Global Regulatory
Affairs for Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development, Inc., Dr. Ashworth
was responsible for the regulatory strategy for the company's
flagship product, ABILIFY®.
Dr. Ashworth's career experience also includes regulatory
positions at Biovail Corporation, Forest Laboratories, Inc., Knoll
Pharmaceutical Company (BASF), and CIBA-Geigy Corporation.
Dr. Ashworth earned a B.S. in Chemistry from St. John's University and his Ph.D. in Organic
Chemistry from MIT.
In connection with his appointment, Dr. Ashworth received a
one-time inducement award of 100,000 stock options, of which 25,000
(25%) are fully vested as of the grant date. The remaining
options vest monthly over a three-year period. The Company
approved the award as an inducement material to Dr. Ashworth
entering into employment with the Company in accordance with NASDAQ
Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).
About OncoSec Immunotherapies
OncoSec is a
clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing
cytokine-based intratumoral immunotherapies to stimulate the body's
immune system to target and attack cancer. OncoSec's lead
immunotherapy platform – TAVO (tavokinogene telseplasmid) – enables
the intratumoral delivery of DNA-based interleukin-12 (IL-12), a
naturally occurring protein with immune-stimulating
functions. The technology, which employs electroporation, is
designed to produce a controlled, localized expression of IL-12 in
the tumor microenvironment, enabling the immune system to target
and attack tumors throughout the body. OncoSec has built a
deep and diverse clinical pipeline utilizing TAVO as a potential
treatment for multiple cancer indications either as a monotherapy
or in combination with leading checkpoint inhibitors; with the
latter potentially enabling OncoSec to address a great unmet
medical need in oncology: anti-PD-1 non-responders. Results
from recently completed clinical studies of TAVO have demonstrated
a local immune response, and subsequently, a systemic effect as
either a monotherapy or combination treatment approach. In
addition to TAVO, OncoSec is identifying and developing new
DNA-encoded therapeutic candidates and tumor indications for use
with its ImmunoPulse® platform. For more
information, please visit www.oncosec.com.
CONTACT
Investor Relations:
Stern Investor Relations
Will O'Connor
Phone: (212) 362-1200
will@sternir.com
Media Relations:
David Schemelia / Jason Rando
Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc.
Phone: 212-827-0020
dschemelia@tiberend.com
jrando@tiberend.com
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SOURCE OncoSec Medical Incorporated