Date: 2015-09-22
Type of information: Nomination
Compound:
Company: SELLAS Life Sciences (Switzerland)
Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology - CNS diseases
Type agreement: nomination
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Disease:
Details: * On September 22, 2015, SELLAS Life Sciences Group announced the elections of Gregory Raskin, MD, Vice President, Technology Development at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK); and Luis Palacios, Founder and CEO of Elystone Capital, to the Company’s Board of Directors. SELLAS is expanding its Board as a result of recent promising clinical results from its two lead programs, and in anticipation of key near-term developments at the company. WT1 cancer vaccine has shown increased survival compared to historical controls in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML); and has also shown encouraging early data in mesothelioma. SELLAS will initiate further studies across at least two more cancer indications by Q4 2015 and Q1 2016, and plans to start a Phase 3 clinical study in early 2016. Dr. Gregory Raskin is Vice President, Technology Development at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), where he leads technology transfer, commercialization, and business development at the world’s oldest and largest private cancer center. Prior to joining MSK in 2012, he was a Vice President at AllianceBernstein LP, where he led healthcare and life sciences investing for the firm’s $200 million venture capital fund. Dr. Raskin’s previous experience includes serving as a biotech analyst at Baker Brothers Investments and as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he worked mainly with pharmaceutical and biotech companies. He received both his bachelor’s degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry and his medical degree from Yale University. Dr. Raskin also was a resident physician in the internal medicine department of New York University Medical Center. Luis Palacios is Chief Executive Officer of Elystone Capital SA, a boutique wealth management firm that he founded in 2002. Previously, he was a private banker at Bank Morgan Stanley AG, establishing the firm’s wealth management practice in Geneva. Prior to this, he was a private banker at Hentsch & Cie. Luis Palacios received his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the Universidad Catolica Argentina, Buenos Aires and his MBA degree from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France.
A key subset of patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and Parkinson’s disease showed improvements in motor functioning when treated with the Company’s proprietary high-dose formulation of Zolpidem. The company anticipates beginning a pivotal trial in one of these indications in the first half of 2016.
SELLAS also plans to initiate a Phase 1 trial in 2016 for its TR1 therapeutic. This drug consists of a full-length p21 tumor suppressor protein attached to a proprietary transporter protein. The drug’s mechanism of action is to activate apoptosis and inhibit tumor proliferation.
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