Health & Fitness
Health and Fitness
Health and Fitness
Mon, January 12, 2009
Prominent Oncologist David R. Parkinson, M.D., Joins CytRx?s Clinical Advisory Board
LOS ANGELES--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--CytRx Corporation (NASDAQ:CYTR) today announced that David R. Parkinson, M.D., has joined the Company's Clinical Advisory Board. Dr. Parkinson is an internationally known oncology authority who formerly held senior executive positions in oncology research and drug development at Biogen Idec, Amgen and Novartis AG. He has served as Acting Associate Director of the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program at the National Cancer Institute and is a past Chairman of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Biologics Advisory Committee. Dr. Parkinson was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the American Association of Cancer Research.
"David is a preeminent authority in oncology and has been responsible for the development and successful registration of numerous important cancer therapeutics. We are delighted to welcome him to our Clinical Advisory Board," said CytRx's President and CEO, Steven A. Kriegsman. "We will look to call upon his unparalleled knowledge and experience in oncology to support the clinical development of our oncology drug candidates tamibarotene and INNO-206, as well as support the development of our broader oncology franchise."
Dr. Parkinson is currently the President and CEO of Nodality, a biotechnology company focused on the biological characterization of signaling pathways in patients with malignancy to enable more effective therapeutics development and decision making. Before joining Nodality, Dr. Parkinson was the Senior Vice President, Oncology Research and Development at Biogen Idec, where he oversaw all oncology discovery research efforts and the development of its oncology pipeline. Prior to that, he served as Vice President, Oncology Development, at Amgen and Vice President, Global Clinical Oncology Development, at Novartis.
From 1990 to 1997 Dr. Parkinson was affiliated with the National Cancer Institute, where he served as Chief of the Investigational Drug Branch, then as Acting Associate Director of the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program. He has held academic positions at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas and New England Medical Center of Tufts University School of Medicine. He received his M.D., as gold medalist, from the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine in 1977, with Internal Medicine and Hematology/Oncology training in Montreal at McGill University and in Boston at New England Medical Center.
Dr. Parkinson is a past President of the International Society of Biological Therapy, and past Editor of the Journal of Immunotherapy. He currently serves on the National Cancer Policy Forum of the Institute of Medicine and is a member of the FDA's Science Board. He was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR), and continues to serve as Chairman of the AACR Finance Committee.
"Dr. Parkinson joins our already impressive Clinical Advisory Board, which brings us significant drug development and regulatory expertise," added Mr. Kriegsman. Additional Clinical Advisory Board members include:
- Dr. Virinder Nohria, who is a board-certified neurologist who also holds a Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology. Dr. Nohria has more than 15 years of experience in drug development at pharmaceutical companies, including Eli Lilly and Company, and UCB Pharma.
- Dr. Sue Griffith, who received medical training at the University of London and is a member of the Royal College of Physicians of London. Dr. Griffith also holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and has more than 18 years in drug development experience at companies, including Elan Pharmaceuticals, DuPont Pharmaceuticals, Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals and Wellcome.
- Dr. Cynthia Rask, who is a board-certified neurologist with more than 15 years experience in drug development. Her past positions include seven years with the FDA, where she was Director, Division of Clinical Evaluation and Pharmacology/Toxicology in the Office of Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies. She has also held positions at Abbott Laboratories and Genentech, Inc.
About CytRx Corporation
CytRx Corporation is a biopharmaceutical research and development company engaged in the development of high-value human therapeutics. The CytRx drug development pipeline includes programs in clinical development for cancer indications, including tamibarotene in a registration study for the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). CytRx is developing two drug candidates based on its industry-leading molecular chaperone technology, which aims to repair or degrade misfolded proteins associated with disease. The Company owns and operates a research and development facility in San Diego. CytRx also maintains a 45% equity interest in publicly traded RXi Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RXII). For more information on the Company, visit [ www.cytrx.com ].
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the events or results described in the forward-looking statements, including risks or uncertainties described in CytRx's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2008 and other recently filed SEC documents, such as its most recent annual report on Form 10-K. All forward-looking statements are based upon information available to CytRx on the date the statements are first published. CytRx undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
