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Gloucester Pharmaceuticals Announces Senior Executive Appointments
Cambridge, MA
November 16, 2004
Gloucester Pharmaceuticals, Inc., aprivately held cancer therapeutics
development company, today announced the appointment of two key senior
executives. William McCulloch M.B., Ch.B, F.R.C.P. (Glasg), F.F.P.M.
joins the company as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer
and John McBride joins as Executive
Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
"I am extremely pleased that these respected experts in the oncology
arena have joined Gloucester in such critical roles," commented
Joseph S. "Jay" Mohr, President and Chief Executive Officer
of Gloucester. "With our core team in place and our recent financing
completed, we can now direct our full attention to the development
of our most advanced product candidate, FK228, for the treatment of
cutaneous T-cell lymphoma," he concluded.
Dr. McCulloch most recently was President of Alba BioPharm Advisors
Inc., a clinical development consulting firm that he founded, and
which provides strategic clinical/regulatory and due diligence services
to a range of biopharmaceutical companies, as well as leading venture
capital organizations. Prior to founding Alba, Dr. McCulloch was Executive
Vice President & Medical Director of A. M. Pappas & Associates,
LLC, a life sciences venture development firm, where he developed
and managed the company's international pharmaceutical and biotechnology
advisory practice. Previously Dr. McCulloch served as Senior Vice
President of
R&D for Sparta Pharmaceuticals, and Vice President of Clinical
R&D for U.S. Bioscience. While residing in Europe, he held senior
executive positions with Bristol-Myers Co., Celltech Ltd., and Astra
Alab, a division of Astra AB (now Astra Zeneca). Dr. McCulloch earned
his M.B., Ch.B. (M.D. equivalent) from the University of Glasgow in
Scotland, is a Member of the Royal College of Physicians (UK), a Fellow
of the Royal College of Physicians (Glasgow) and a Fellow of the Faculty
of
Pharmaceutical Medicine (UK). In addition, he holds a Diploma from
the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, as well as
a Diploma in Pharmaceutical Medicine, both from the U.K. He is a member
of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Mr. McBride is a 20-year veteran of the biotechnology/pharmaceutical
industry. Prior to joining Gloucester he was Global Head of Oncology
Licensing at Pharmacia Corporation where he was involved in numerous
in-licensing and out-licensing projects. Previously he served as Executive
Vice President, Business Operations and Chief Financial Officer at
CytoTherapeutics, Inc. Mr. McBride has also served as Vice President,
Business Development and Treasurer at Phytera, Inc., Vice
President, Commercial Development at Sparta Pharmaceuticals, Vice
President, Business Development at US Bioscience, and held various
positions with Eastman Kodak and Atlantic Richfield Company. Mr. McBride
holds a BS in Biochemistry and an MS in Chemical Engineering from
the University of Wisconsin and an MBA from the Wharton School, University
of Pennsylvania.
About FK228
FK228 (depsipeptide) is one of a new class of anti-cancer agents,
known as histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, and is the only bicyclic
peptide in this group. FK228 was granted Fast Track designation by
the Food and Drug Administration as a monotherapy for the treatment
of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) in patients who have relapsed
following, or become refractory to, one other systemic therapy. Theproduct
is in Phase 2 studies for CTCL, as well as renal cell carcinoma and
hormone refractory prostate cancer. In numerous preclinical studies
performed by Fujisawa, the NCI and others, the inhibition of histone
deacetylation caused cell cycle arrest, differentiation and apoptotic
cell death in cancer cells of various types. Phase 2 data reported
at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology
(ASCO) showed an overall response rate of fifty percent (50%) in patients
with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Gloucester acquired the rights to
FK228 from Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co, Ltd. in April 2004 under an
exclusive, worldwide license agreement.
About Gloucester Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Gloucester Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a privately held, venture-backed
company that develops and commercializes innovative products for the
treatment of cancer. The company employs an in-licensing strategy
to build a diversified product portfolio to address the significant
unmet medical need in the management of cancer. Gloucester's first
product is FK228, a novel HDAC inhibitor in Phase 2 studies, which
the company acquired from Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co, Ltd. in April
2004.
Gloucester is headquartered in Cambridge, MA.
For more information visit our newly enhanced website at
www.gloucesterpharma.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning
Gloucester that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. For this
purpose, any statements contained herein that are not statements of
historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without
limiting the foregoing, the words, "believes," "anticipates,"
"plans," "expects," "estimates," "intends,"
"should," "could," "will," "may,"
and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.
There are a number of important factors that could cause Gloucester's
actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking
statements, including risks as to whether results obtained in pre-clinical
and early clinical studies such as the results referred to in this
release will be indicative of results obtained in future clinical
trials; whether FK228 will advance through the clinical
trial process and receive approval from the United States Food and
Drug
Administration or equivalent foreign regulatory agencies and for which
indications, if any; and whether the patent and patent applications
owned or licensed by Gloucester will protect the Company's technology
and prevent others from infringing it. Gloucester disclaims any intention
or obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
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