PENNINGTON, N.J. and
SAN DIEGO, Feb. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- OncoSec Medical
Incorporated (NASDAQ:ONCS) (the "Company" or "OncoSec") today
announced the addition of two new executives to the company's
management team.
Industry veteran Brian Leuthner
has been appointed as OncoSec's Chief Operating Officer and
Joe Smith has joined as Vice
President of Business Development.
"We are delighted to welcome both Brian and Joe to OncoSec's
management team," said Daniel J.
O'Connor, President and Chief Executive Officer of OncoSec.
"As we continue making progress in the development of our lead
product candidate, TAVO™, in multiple ongoing clinical studies for
a variety of oncology indications and COVID-19, we are actively
seeking opportunities to expand our offering through strategic
partnerships that maximize the full therapeutic potential of our
technology. With the additions of Brian and Joe to our executive
team, we are looking forward to leveraging their significant
strategic, commercial and business development expertise as we work
to bring transformative solutions to patients in need and value to
our shareholders."
Mr. Leuthner joins OncoSec having held a variety of leadership
positions over his 32 year biotech and pharmaceutical career,
including CEO and Chief Operating Officer functions. For a decade,
Mr. Leuthner was President, CEO and co-founder of Edge
Therapeutics, Inc., an orphan disease-focused company. In 2019, Mr.
Leuthner led the merger of Edge and PDS Biotechnology, an
immune-oncology company. While at Edge, he developed a long-term
vision, strategic plan and corporate culture that ensured a
successful transition from a start-up company through late-stage
development. Earlier in his career, Mr. Leuthner held a variety of
additional leadership positions, including Fontus Pharmaceuticals,
Inc., The Medicines Company, ESP Pharma, Cardinal Health, Johnson
& Johnson, Thomas Ferguson Healthcare Advertising Agency and
Glaxo Wellcome Company.
Joining OncoSec as Vice President of Business Development, Mr.
Smith was most recently an independent transaction advisor and
acting Head of Business Development to a number of biotechnology
and specialty pharmaceutical companies, including an
antibody-focused start-up, an orphan ophthalmology specialty
business and a vaccine technology business focused on COVID-19.
Previously, he was Executive Director & Head of Business
Development & Strategy for EyePoint Pharmaceuticals where he
led Strategy and Business and Corporate Development activity. Mr.
Smith has led or managed Business and Corporate Development at
three other specialty pharmaceutical companies including Adare
Pharmaceuticals, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, and Aton Pharma. His
experience also includes more than eight years between management
consulting and biotechnology equity research.
As of February 2, 2021, Mr.
Leuthner will be granted an initial grant of 150,000 stock options
and Mr. Smith will be granted an initial grant of 35,000 stock
options. These stock options will have an exercise price equal to
the closing price of the Company's common stock on the date of
grant and will be 25% vested on the date of grant, with the
remaining 75% vesting quarterly over a two-year period. These stock
options were granted as an inducement to Mr. Leuthner and Mr. Smith
entering into employment with the Company in accordance with NASDAQ
Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).
About TAVO™
OncoSec's gene therapy technology combines TAVOTM (tavokinogene
telseplasmid), a DNA plasmid-based interleukin-12 (IL-12), with an
intra-tumoral electroporation gene delivery platform to achieve
endogenous IL-12 production in the tumor microenvironment that
enables the immune system to target and attack tumors throughout
the body. TAVO has demonstrated a local and systemic
anti-tumor response in several clinical trials, including the
pivotal Phase 2b trial KEYNOTE-695
for metastatic melanoma and the KEYNOTE-890 Phase 2 trial in triple
negative breast cancer (TNBC). TAVO™ has received both Orphan
Drug and Fast-Track Designation by the U.S. Food & Drug
Administration for the treatment of metastatic melanoma.
About OncoSec Medical Incorporated
OncoSec Medical Incorporated (the "Company," "OncoSec," "we" or
"our") is a late-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 investigational product candidate – 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 along with an
acceptable safety profile, warranting further development. In
addition to TAVO™, OncoSec is identifying and developing new
DNA-encoded therapeutic candidates and tumor indications for use
with its new Visceral Lesion Applicator (VLA), to target deep
visceral lesions, such as liver, lung or pancreatic lesions.
For more information, please visit www.oncosec.com.
TAVO™ is a trademark of OncoSec Medical Incorporated.
KEYTRUDA® is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp & Dohme
Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc.
Risk Factors and Forward-Looking Statements
This release, as well as other information provided from time to
time by the Company or its employees, may contain forward-looking
statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those
anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements provide the Company's current beliefs, expectations and
intentions regarding future events and involve risks, uncertainties
(some of which are beyond the Company's control) and assumptions.
For those statements, we claim the protection of the safe
harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify
forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate
strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may
include words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate,"
"expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "should," "will"
and "would" and similar expressions (including the negative of
these terms). Although we believe that expectations reflected
in the forward- looking statements are reasonable, we cannot
guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or
achievements. The Company intends these forward-looking
statements to speak only at the time they are published on or as
otherwise specified and does not undertake to update or revise
these statements as more information becomes available, except as
required under federal securities laws and the rules and
regulations of the Securities Exchange Commission ("SEC"). In
particular, you should be aware that the success and timing of our
clinical trials, including safety and efficacy of our product
candidates, patient accrual, unexpected or expected safety events,
the impact of COVID-19 on the supply of our candidates or the
initiation or completion of clinical trials and the usability of
data generated from our trials may differ and may not meet our
estimated timelines. Please refer to the risk factors and
other cautionary statements provided in the Company's Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July
31, 2020 and subsequent periodic and current reports filed
with the SEC (each of which can be found at the SEC's website
www.sec.gov), as well as other factors described from time to time
in the Company's filings with the SEC.
Company Contact
Kim Jaffe
Assistant Vice President, Business Development & Operations
+1- 609-306-7042
kjaffe@oncosec.com
Media Contact
Patrick Bursey
LifeSci Communications
+1-646-970-4688
pbursey@lifescicomms.com
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SOURCE OncoSec Medical Incorporated