CONTACT: INVESTOR CONTACT
Kate McNeil, Vice President of IR, PR & Corporate Communications
Cellectar Biosciences, Inc.
Phone: (347) 204-4226
Email: kmcneil@cellectar.com
MADISON, Wis., April 2, 2014 — Cellectar Biosciences,
Inc. (OTCQX:CLRB), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company
developing innovative agents for the detection and treatment of cancer,
announced that effective April 1, 2014, Dr. Simon Pedder transitioned
to President and CEO of Cellectar as planned following six months as
acting chief executive officer. Dr. Pedder will continue to serve as a
director.
“Under Simon’s leadership, Cellectar has already made measurable
progress in focusing the company’s development programs, initiating its
first Phase II trial and mapping a path toward initial approval of our
product candidates,” said Dr. Stephen Hill, Chairman of the Board. “The
Board of Directors looks forward to his continued contributions as we
work toward advancing our pipeline of promising cancer-targeting agents
while optimizing our internal resources and increasing shareholder
value.”
“I believe Cellectar’s highly selective cancer-targeting platform
technology has the potential to radically change the way a broad range
of cancers are detected, treated and monitored,” commented Dr. Pedder.
“The challenges that lay before us are to successfully identify the
most efficient and risk-mitigating strategies for validating our core
technology and prioritizing those indications in which there are
significant unmet clinical needs, well-defined regulatory paths and
viable commercial markets. Given the shared core platform of our
agents, our initial development opportunities should provide a strong
foundation from which to expand into additional addressable markets. I
am pleased by the progress towards these goals to date, appreciative of
the support expressed by shareholders and investigators during this
transition and look forward to solid operational execution driving
delivery of near-term trial data and long-term success.”
Dr. Pedder was named acting chief executive officer and elected a
director of Cellectar in October 2013. He has been involved in four
successful new drug applications and his expertise spans many areas,
including clinical development, orphan drug development, licensing and
public company financing. Prior to joining Cellectar, Dr. Pedder held
senior leadership positions at Hoffmann La Roche, including serving as
an Officer and Vice President of Pharma Business Oncology. Following
his tenure at Roche, Dr. Pedder founded and served as president and
chief executive officer of Chelsea Therapeutics, a Charlotte-based
public biopharmaceutical company that acquires and develops innovative
products for the treatment of a variety of human diseases, including
central nervous system disorders.
About Cellectar Biosciences, Inc.
Cellectar Biosciences is developing agents to detect, treat and monitor
a broad spectrum of cancers. Using a novel phospholipid ether analog
(PLE) platform technology as a targeted delivery and retention vehicle,
Cellectar’s compounds are designed to be selectively taken up and
retained in cancer cells including cancer stem cells. With the ability
to attach both imaging and therapeutic agents to its proprietary
delivery platform, Cellectar has developed a portfolio of product
candidates engineered to leverage the unique characteristics of cancer
cells to “find, treat and follow” malignancies in a highly selective
way. I-124-CLR1404 is a small-molecule, broad-spectrum, cancer-targeted
PET imaging agent currently being evaluated in a Phase II glioblastoma
imaging trial. Additionally, multiple investigator-sponsored Phase I/II
clinical trials are ongoing across 11 solid tumor indications.
I-131-CLR1404 is a small-molecule, broad-spectrum, cancer-targeted
molecular radiotherapeutic that delivers cytotoxic radiation directly
and selectively to cancer cells including cancer stem cells. A Phase Ib
dose-escalation trial of I-131-CLR1404 in patients with advanced solid
tumors was completed in the first quarter of 2014 and results have been
submitted to the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2014
Annual Meeting. CLR1502 is a preclinical, cancer-targeted,
non-radioactive optical imaging agent for intraoperative tumor margin
illumination and non-invasive tumor imaging. For additional information
please visit www.cellectar.com
This news release contains forward-looking statements. You can identify
these statements by our use of words such as “may,” “expect,”
“believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “could,” “estimate,” “continue,”
“plans,” or their negatives or cognates. These statements are only
estimates and predictions and are subject to known and unknown risks
and uncertainties that may cause actual future experience and results
to differ materially from the statements made. These statements are
based on our current beliefs and expectations as to such future
outcomes. Drug discovery and development involve a high degree of risk.
Factors that might cause such a material difference include, among
others, uncertainties related to the ability to raise additional
capital, uncertainties related to the ability to attract and retain
partners for our technologies, the identification of lead compounds,
the successful preclinical development thereof, the completion of
clinical trials, the FDA review process and other government
regulation, our pharmaceutical collaborators’ ability to successfully
develop and commercialize drug candidates, competition from other
pharmaceutical companies, product pricing and third-party
reimbursement. A complete description of risks and uncertainties
related to our business is contained in our periodic reports filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission including our Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2013. These forward-looking statements are made
only as of the date hereof, and we disclaim any obligation to update
any such forward-looking statements.
