Full Press Release Details
UPDATED: Cellectar Biosciences Strengthens
Management Team with
Appointment of John Friend, M.D. as Chief Medical Officer
Madison, Wis. (April 21,
2017) -- Cellectar Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLRB), an oncology-focused clinical stage biotechnology
company, today announces it has appointed John Friend, II, M.D. as vice president and chief medical
officer effective April 17, 2017.
"Cellectar has accelerated and expanded its research and
development program to include multiple clinical trials for our lead product candidate CLR 131, as well as the active pre-clinical
development of additional compounds utilizing our PDC platform," said Jim Caruso, president and CEO of Cellectar
Biosciences. "John's depth of drug development experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, specifically, advancing
drugs from preclinical stage through clinical studies, as well as successful oversight of the regulatory process, precisely meets
our current need in helming our PDC programs and we look forward to benefitting from his leadership."
Dr. Friend, age 47, brings 15 years of global
drug development expertise and general management experience in oncology, inflammation, endocrine/metabolism, and pain management
to Cellectar. Prior to joining the company, John spent more than seven years at Helsinn Therapeutics leading its research
and development division. Most recently he served as senior vice president of Medical and Scientific Affairs at Helsinn, building
the non-clinical, clinical, medical and regulatory affairs teams to lead multiple global franchises from early product development
to market commercialization. Prior to his time at Helsinn, Dr. Friend held executive responsibility for clinical research, medical
affairs, pharmacovigilance and risk management at various pharmaceutical companies including Akros Pharma, Actavis, Alpharma, Hospira
and Abbott. After obtaining an undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Southern Methodist University, John earned his medical
degree from UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (now Rutgers, RWJMS). He completed post-graduate residency program in
family medicine and subsequently served as clinical director and faculty attending physician at Cabarrus Family Medicine Residency
Program in North Carolina.
Grant of Inducement Option
Cellectar has granted to Dr. Friend,
effective as of his first day of employment with Cellectar, 100,000 shares of Cellectar's common stock vesting in equal annual
installments over three years. This grant was approved by both the Compensation Committee of Cellectar's Board of Directors
and the full Board of Directors and made as an inducement material to Dr. Friend's entering into employment with Cellectar
as contemplated by Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).
About Cellectar Biosciences, Inc.
Cellectar Biosciences is developing phospholipid drug conjugates (PDCs) designed to provide cancer-targeted delivery of diverse
oncologic payloads to a broad range of cancers and cancer stem cells. Cellectar's PDC platform is based on the company's proprietary
phospholipid ether analogs. These novel small-molecules have demonstrated highly selective uptake and retention in a broad range
of cancers. Cellectar's PDC pipeline includes product candidates for cancer therapy and cancer diagnostic imaging. The company's
lead therapeutic PDC, CLR 131, utilizes iodine-131, a cytotoxic radioisotope, as its payload. CLR 131 is currently being evaluated
under an orphan drug designated Phase I clinical study in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, as well as a Phase
II clinical study to assess efficacy in a range of B-cell malignancies. The company is also developing PDCs for targeted delivery
of chemotherapeutics such as paclitaxel (CLR 1603-PTX), a preclinical-stage product candidate, and plans to expand its PDC chemotherapeutic
pipeline through both in-house and collaborative R&D efforts. For more 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, 2016. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and we disclaim any obligation to
update any such forward-looking statements.