VANCOUVER and HOUSTON, July 15,
2019 /CNW/ - ESSA Pharma Inc. ("ESSA" or "the
Company") (NASDAQ: EPIX; TSX-V: EPI), a pharmaceutical company
focused on the developing novel therapies for the treatment of
prostate cancer, announced today the appointment of Dr.
Alessandra Cesano, M.D., PhD as
Chief Medical Officer ("CMO"). With over 25 years of drug
development, regulatory and medical affairs activities, Dr. Cesano
will provide leadership in advancing the Company's lead clinical
candidate, EPI-7386 into Phase 1 clinical testing.
"Dr. Cesano is an accomplished drug development executive with
an extensive and successful track record of leading drug candidates
though development, approval and commercial launch. She also has
broad expertise in the development and clinical use of biomarkers
for the more efficient development of targeted therapeutics.
Her expertise will be instrumental in advancing the clinical
development of ESSA's novel N-terminal domain inhibitor of the
androgen receptor in men with prostate cancer." said
David Parkinson, MD, President &
Chief Executive Officer of ESSA.
Dr. Cesano is an accomplished drug development leader with
extensive experience in drug discovery and development. She
played key roles at Amgen in the approval of Vectibix® and
Kepivance®. Prior to joining ESSA, Dr. Cesano was the CMO at
NanoString Technologies, Inc. She had previously served as
the CMO at Cleave Biosciences, Inc. and CMO and COO at
Nodality, Inc. Dr. Cesano spent 12 years researching tumor
immunology, including nine years at the Wistar Institute of the
University of Pennsylvania. She also
holds memberships in several professional and scientific societies
and has been an author on over 100 research publications. Dr.
Cesano received an M.D., a Board Certification in Oncology and a
Ph.D. in Tumor Immunology from the University of Turin. She holds a B.S. in Science and
Economics from Istituto Tecnico Commerciale.
About ESSA Pharma Inc.
ESSA is a pharmaceutical
company focused on developing novel and proprietary therapies for
the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer ("CRPC") in
patients whose disease is progressing despite treatment with
current therapies. ESSA's
proprietary "aniten" compounds bind to the
N-terminal domain of the androgen receptor ("AR"), inhibiting
AR-driven transcription and the AR signaling pathway in a
unique manner which bypasses the drug resistance mechanisms
associated with current anti-androgens. The Company is
currently progressing IND-enabling studies and expects to file
an IND for EPI-7386 in the first calendar quarter of 2020.
For more information about ESSA, please visit www.essapharma.com or
follow us on Twitter.
About Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is the
second-most commonly diagnosed cancer among men and the fifth most
common cause of male cancer death worldwide (Globocan, 2018).
Adenocarcinoma of the prostate is dependent on androgen for tumor
progression and depleting or blocking androgen action has been a
mainstay of hormonal treatment for over six decades. Although
tumors are often initially sensitive to medical or surgical
therapies that decrease levels of testosterone, disease progression
despite castrate levels of testosterone generally represents a
transition to the lethal variant of the disease, metastatic CPRC
("mCRPC"), and most patients ultimately succumb to the illness. The
treatment of mCRPC patients has evolved rapidly over the past five
years. Despite these advances, additional treatment options are
needed to improve clinical outcomes in patients, particularly those
who fail existing treatments including abiraterone or enzalutamide,
or those who have contraindications to receive those drugs. Over
time, patients with mCRPC generally experience continued disease
progression, worsening pain, leading to substantial morbidity and
limited survival rates. In both in vitro and in vivo animal
studies, ESSA's novel approach to blocking the androgen pathway has
been shown to be effective in blocking tumor growth when current
therapies are no longer effective.
Forward-Looking Statement Disclaimer
This release contains certain information which, as presented,
constitutes "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and/or applicable
Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information involves
statements that relate to future events and often addresses
expected future business and financial performance, containing
words such as "look forward", "anticipate" and, "believe", and
statements that an action or event "is expected", "should", or
"will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions and
includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding timing of
IND-enabling studies and entering into clinical studies with
EPI-7386.
Forward-looking statements and information are subject to
various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which
are beyond the ability of ESSA to control or predict, and which may
cause ESSA's actual results, performance or achievements to be
materially different from those expressed or implied thereby. Such
statements reflect ESSA's current views with respect to future
events, are subject to risks and uncertainties and are necessarily
based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while
considered reasonable by ESSA as of the date of such statements,
are inherently subject to significant medical, scientific,
business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties
and contingencies. In making forward-looking statements, ESSA may
make various material assumptions, including but not limited to (i)
the accuracy of ESSA's financial projections; (ii) obtaining
positive results of clinical trials; (iii) obtaining necessary
regulatory approvals; and (iv) general business, market and
economic conditions.
Forward-looking information is developed based on assumptions
about such risks, uncertainties and other factors set out herein
and in ESSA's Annual Report on Form 20-F dated December 13, 2018 under the heading "Risk
Factors", a copy of which is available on ESSA's profile on the
SEDAR website at www.sedar.com, ESSA's profile on EDGAR at
www.sec.gov, and as otherwise disclosed from time to time on ESSA's
SEDAR profile. Forward-looking statements are made based on
management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that
statements are made and ESSA undertakes no obligation to update
forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions
or other circumstances should change, except as may be required by
applicable Canadian and United
States securities laws. Readers are cautioned against
attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
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SOURCE ESSA Pharma Inc