Argos Therapeutics Announces Appointment of Richard Morrison, PhD to Board of Directors
September 26 2017 - 4:30PM
Argos Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ARGS), an immuno-oncology company
focused on the development and commercialization of individualized
immunotherapies based on the Arcelis® precision immunotherapy
technology platform, today announced the appointment of Richard
Morrison, PhD, to the Company’s board of directors. Dr. Morrison
will serve as a Class III director and will serve on the audit
committee of the board of directors.
Dr. Morrison brings a wealth of pharmaceutical industry and
financial expertise, as well as significant prior board level
experience, to the Argos board of directors. Dr. Morrison spent the
majority of his career at Eli Lilly, where he served for thirty
years in a variety of international leadership roles, including
president and general manager of Lilly’s operations in Latin
America. Prior to heading the Latin American companies, Dr.
Morrison held several marketing and executive management positions
in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, in both the pharmaceutical
and agricultural divisions of the company. For three years during a
period of very difficult macro-economics in Latin America, and
certain other international markets, he lead a special group
working to restructure the Lilly Latin American affiliates and
operations, especially relating to organization and rationalization
of manufacturing. This strategic work extended to Lilly
Canada and Lilly Australia as well. Following his retirement from
Eli Lilly in 1993, Dr. Morrison served on the faculty of the
Cameron School of Business at the University of North Carolina
Wilmington.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Morrison to the
Argos board,” stated Hubert Birner, chairman of the Argos board of
directors. “Dick has considerable pharmaceutical industry and
financial expertise, and we look forward to the benefit of his
experience as we seek to advance our novel pipeline of
individualized immunotherapies directed at important diseases,
including metastatic renal cell carcinoma and HIV. In
particular, Dick’s international and commercial experience will
complement the expertise of the current board members as well as
add a valuable new perspective.”
Dr. Morrison has served on a number of boards of
directors of companies in the medical industry, including
aaiPharma, a public pharmaceutical company, BeaconMedaes, a private
medical device company, Icagen, a public biotechnology company, and
the Diatron Group, a private medical instruments company.
Dr. Morrison holds Masters and Ph.D. degrees
from Louisiana State University and a B.S. degree from Stephen F.
Austin University in East Texas, and served in the United States
Navy. He has served on the boards of numerous charitable
organizations, including the Raleigh North Carolina Chapter of the
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the North Carolina
Methodist Home for Children, and is co-Chair of the Mission of Hope
for Sierra Leone, an organization dedicated to improving healthcare
in Africa.
About Argos Therapeutics
Argos Therapeutics is an immuno-oncology company
focused on the development and commercialization of individualized
immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases
using its Arcelis® technology platform. Argos' most advanced
product candidate, Rocapuldencel-T, is being evaluated in the
pivotal ADAPT Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of
metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). In addition,
Rocapuldencel-T is being studied in a Phase 2
investigator-initiated clinical trial as neoadjuvant therapy for
renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Argos is also developing a separate
Arcelis®-based product candidate, AGS-004, for the treatment of
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which is currently being
evaluated in combination with vorinostat, a latency-reversing drug,
in an investigator-initiated Phase 2 clinical trial aimed at HIV
eradication in adult patients. Funding for the development of
AGS-004 has been provided by the National Institutes of Health, the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the
Collaboratory of Research for AIDS Eradication.
Forward Looking Statements
Any statements in this press release about
Argos' future expectations, plans and prospects, and other
statements containing the words "believes," "anticipates,"
"estimates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "predicts," "projects,"
"targets," "may," "potential," "will," "would," "could," "should,"
"continue," and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking
statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from
those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of
various important factors, including whether Argos' cash resources
will be sufficient to fund its continuing operations for the period
anticipated; whether preliminary or interim clinical data will be
indicative of the final data from a clinical trial; whether results
obtained in clinical trials will be indicative of results obtained
in future clinical trials; whether Argos' product candidates will
advance through the clinical trial process on a timely basis;
whether the results of such trials will warrant submission for
approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration or
equivalent foreign regulatory agencies; whether Argos' product
candidates will receive approval from regulatory agencies on a
timely basis or at all; whether, if product candidates obtain
approval, they will be successfully distributed and marketed;
whether Argos can successfully establish commercial manufacturing
operations on a timely basis or at all; and other factors discussed
in the "Risk Factors" section of Argos' Form 10-Q for the quarter
ended June 30, 2017, which is on file with the SEC, and in other
filings Argos makes with the SEC from time to time. In addition,
the forward-looking statements included in this press release
represent Argos' views as of the date hereof. Argos anticipates
that subsequent events and developments will cause Argos' views to
change. However, while Argos may elect to update these
forward-looking statements at some point in the future, Argos
specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These
forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as
representing Argos' views as of any date subsequent to the date
hereof.
Investor contact: Richard Katz, MD, MBAChief
Financial Officer Argos Therapeutics, Inc. 919-287-6315
rkatz@argostherapeutics.com
Media Contact:Adam DaleyBerry & Company
Public Relations212.253.8881adaley@berrypr.com