Full Press Release Details
GENEMAX CORP. APPOINTS KONSTANTINE SARAFIS AS CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
VANCOUVER, Canada, August 30th, 2004/ Canada NewsWire / -- GeneMax Corp. (OTC
Bulletin Board: GMXX; Frankfurt: GX1) GeneMax announced today that Konstantine
Sarafis has been appointed as its Chief Operating Officer (COO), effective as of
August 30th, 2004. Mr. Sarafis will be responsible for the development,
coordination and execution of the company's operations, as well as developing
opportunities for industry partnerships, marketing and financing.
Ronald L. Handford, President & CEO of GeneMax, stated, "Mr. Sarafis' extensive
experience in the biotech sector will provide outstanding guidance for
implementing our operational plan. This will support the achievement of the
company's clinical and strategic development objectives. We expect Mr. Sarafis'
appointment will accelerate the advancement to clinical trials of our lead
product, the TAP-1 (Transporters Associated with Antigen Processing) cancer
vaccine, and will help us develop a pipeline of related immunotherapy products
through our assay technologies and strategic industry partnerships."
Mr. Sarafis said, "The technologies that GeneMax has under license are exciting
and innovative. These new therapeutics harness the power of the immune system to
fight cancer and other disease. I am looking forward to implementing and
executing GeneMax's strategic plan."
Mr. Sarafis is an experienced executive with a 13 year history of building,
operating and mentoring biotechnology companies. He founded two biotechnology
companies, the most recent being, Interomex Biopharmaceuticals Inc. where he was
involved in arranging venture capital financing and running all aspects of
business operations from 1998 through 2002. More recently Mr. Sarafis has been a
full-time consultant to emerging biotechnology companies and academic
institutions wishing to commercialize new technologies. Prior to entering the
biotechnology sector, Mr. Sarafis was a researcher at UBC in the division of
Medical Microbiology. Mr. Sarafis has extensive experience in managing
intellectual property, licensing, finance, as well as marketing and he is well
versed in corporate governance issues.
ABOUT GENEMAX CORP.: GeneMax Corp. is a biotechnology company specializing in
the discovery and development of immunotherapeutics for the treatment and
eradication of cancer, therapies for infectious diseases and autoimmune
disorders and prevention of transplant tissue rejection. The Company is in
production of its TAP cancer vaccine in preparation for a Phase I/IIa clinical
trial, expected to begin in mid-2005. The proof of principle for the TAP-1
vaccine was established in mice bearing metastatic small cell lung cancer
tumors. This study was published in Nature Biotechnology (Vol. 18, pp 515-520,
May 2000). In recent developments, research conducted at McMaster University in
Hamilton, Ontario and The University of British Columbia showed that GeneMax's
TAP-1 vaccine technology was able to produce an effective immune response
against melanoma, a form of skin cancer, in mouse models of the disease, as
published in Journal of Immunology (reference 1;172(9):5200-5205, May 1, 2004).
For further information:
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CONTACT: KENDRA PAYNE
________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: Toll Free (866) 872-0077 or (604) 714-1225 Fax: (604) 331-0877
GeneMax Corp. - Suite 400 - 1681 Chestnut Street, Vancouver B.C. Canada V6J 4M6
Stock Exchange Information: (Symbol: OTCBB - GMXX, Symbol FWB - GX1, WKN:
645096, ISN: US36870Q1031)
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