ImmunoGen, Inc. Appoints Dr. Charles Morris as Chief Development Officer
WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ImmunoGen, Inc. (Nasdaq: IMGN), a biotechnology company that develops anticancer therapeutics using its Targeted Antibody Payload (TAP) technology and antibody expertise, today announced the appointment of Charles Morris, MB, ChB, MRCP as Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer, effective today. Dr. Morris will be responsible for leading all aspects of product development, including regulatory, at ImmunoGen. He reports to Daniel Junius, President and Chief Executive Officer.
"Charlie has extensive experience leading the strategic development and registration of novel oncology compounds — expertise essential to ImmunoGen with our advancing and expanding product pipeline," commented Mr. Junius. "We now have three wholly owned clinical-stage compounds, expect to advance our fourth product candidate into the clinic in 2013, and have additional highly promising compounds behind these in our pipeline. We are excited to have Charlie joining ImmunoGen at this important time in our transition to being a product development company."
Dr. Morris brings to ImmunoGen nearly twenty years of experience in the development of anticancer compounds, including experience with registration clinical trials, regulatory approvals, pharmacovigilance, and medical affairs support for marketed products. Prior to joining ImmunoGen, he was the executive vice president and chief medical officer at Allos Therapeutics, Inc., where he led the company's clinical development functions including clinical operations, regulatory, and pharmacovigilance. Prior to joining Allos in 2010, Dr. Morris was vice president worldwide clinical research at Cephalon, Inc., where he contributed significantly to the company achieving its first approved oncology drug, Treanda® (bendamustine). Prior to joining Cephalon in 2007, Dr. Morris was with AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals (formerly Zeneca Pharmaceuticals), serving most recently as vice president, clinical development projects, oncology. Dr. Morris held a number of leadership roles during his more than ten years with AstraZeneca, including managing the clinical development of all late-stage pipeline and marketed oncology products.
Dr. Morris holds Degrees of Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, and Bachelor of Medical Science in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics from the Sheffield University Medical School, UK, and is a member of the Royal College of Physicians of London.
About ImmunoGen's Wholly Owned Product Candidates
The Company currently has three wholly owned anticancer compounds in clinical testing — IMGN901, in Phase II testing for the treatment of small-cell lung cancer; IMGN853, in Phase I testing for the treatment of ovarian, lung, and other cancers that over-express folate receptor 1; and IMGN529, in Phase I testing for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. ImmunoGen intends to use the findings from these clinical trials to define the registration paths for these compounds. The Company also expects to advance a fourth compound into the clinic in 2013.
About ImmunoGen, Inc.
ImmunoGen, Inc. develops targeted anticancer therapeutics using its Targeted Antibody Payload (TAP) technology together with the Company's expertise in monoclonal antibodies and tumor biology. A TAP compound uses a tumor-targeting monoclonal antibody to deliver one of ImmunoGen's purpose-developed cancer-killing agents specifically to tumor cells. Ten TAP compounds are now in clinical testing, of which three are wholly owned by the Company. Marketing applications for trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1), the most advanced compound using ImmunoGen's TAP technology, are under review in the US and Europe. Roche is developing this compound globally under an agreement between ImmunoGen and Genentech, a member of the Roche Group. More information about ImmunoGen can be found at www.immunogen.com.
This press release includes forward-looking statements. For these statements, ImmunoGen claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. It should be noted that there are risks and uncertainties related to the development of novel anticancer products, including risks related to preclinical and clinical studies, their timings and results. A review of these risks can be found in ImmunoGen's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012 and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Source: ImmunoGen, Inc.
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