WESTMINSTER, Colo., March 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Allos
Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALTH) today announced the appointment of Pablo
J. Cagnoni, M.D. as Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer. In this
position, Dr. Cagnoni will lead the company's clinical development
functions, including clinical operations, medical affairs and biometrics.
"We are delighted to welcome Pablo to Allos," said Paul L. Berns,
President and CEO. "Pablo's extensive oncology drug development experience
and demonstrated track record of building clinical development
organizations will be extremely valuable as we look to advance our product
candidates, seek new drugs for development and continue to work to deliver
promising new therapies to cancer patients."
Dr. Cagnoni brings to Allos nearly twenty years of drug development
experience in oncology in both industry and academia. From 2004 to 2007,
Dr. Cagnoni held several key management positions with OSI Pharmaceuticals,
Inc., serving most recently as Chief Medical Officer and Vice President,
Clinical Research and Medical Affairs. During his tenure at OSI, among
other responsibilities, Dr. Cagnoni oversaw all of the company's clinical
development and medical affairs activities relating to Tarceva(R). From
2001 to 2004, Dr. Cagnoni held key roles in clinical development with
Allos, serving most recently as Vice President, Clinical Development. Prior
to that, Dr. Cagnoni was Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of
Oncology at the University of Colorado, where he also served as Assistant
Director of the Pharmacology Laboratory and member of the Bone Marrow
Transplant Program. Dr. Cagnoni graduated Summa Cum Laude from the
University of Buenos Aires Medical School and received training in
Hematology and Oncology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York and in
Bone Marrow Transplantation at the University of Colorado. Dr. Cagnoni has
authored over 50 publications, numerous book chapters and has lectured
extensively in several areas related to clinical oncology and drug
development.
"I am thrilled to accept this position and return to Allos to lead the
company's research and development activities," said Dr. Cagnoni. "I
believe Allos has a promising pipeline of product candidates that have the
potential to address areas of significant unmet medical need."
About Allos Therapeutics, Inc.
Allos Therapeutics, Inc. (ALTH) is a biopharmaceutical company focused
on the development and commercialization of small molecule therapeutics for
the treatment of cancer. The Company has two product candidates in
late-stage clinical development: EFAPROXYN (efaproxiral), a radiation
sensitizer currently under evaluation in a pivotal Phase 3 trial in women
with brain metastases originating from breast cancer, and PDX
(pralatrexate), a novel, next generation antifolate currently under
evaluation in a pivotal Phase 2 trial in patients with relapsed or
refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma. The Company is also evaluating RH1,
a targeted chemotherapeutic agent, in a Phase 1 trial in patients with
advanced solid tumors. For additional information, please visit the
Company's website at http://www.allos.com.
NASDAQ Notice
In connection with the commencement of Dr. Cagnoni's employment, on
March 19, 2007, the Company granted Dr. Cagnoni 75,000 shares of restricted
stock and options to purchase 300,000 shares of common stock under the
Company's 2006 Inducement Award Plan. Dr. Cagnoni's restricted stock vests
over a four-year period, with 25% of the restricted stock vesting on each
of the first four anniversaries of the date of grant. Dr. Cagnoni's options
have an exercise price of $6.17 per share, which equals the closing sale
price of a share of the Company's common stock on the date of grant, and
are non-qualified options for tax purposes. The options have a ten year
term, and vest over a four year period, with 25% of such options vesting
one year after the date of grant, and the remaining 75% of such options
vesting in equal monthly installments thereafter over the next three years.
Any unvested portions of the restricted stock and options will be forfeited
upon the termination of Dr. Cagnoni's employment with the Company, except
if the Company (or any surviving or acquiring corporation) terminates Dr.
Cagnoni's employment without cause or if he resigns for good reason within
one month prior to or thirteen months following a change in control of the
Company, in which case the restricted stock and options will vest in full.
The restricted stock and options were approved by the Compensation
Committee of the Company's Board of Directors, and were granted without
stockholder approval pursuant to NASD Marketplace Rule 4350(i)(1)(A)(iv).
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include statements
relating to Dr. Cagnoni's potential impact on the future growth and success
of the Company; the potential safety, efficacy and marketability of the
Company's product candidates; and other statements that are other than
statements of historical facts. In some cases, you can identify
forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "will," "should,"
"expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates,"
"predicts," "projects," "potential," "continue," and other similar
terminology or the negative of these terms, but their absence does not mean
that a particular statement is not forward-looking. Such forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to
risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially
from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements. These risks and
uncertainties include, among others, that the Company's product candidates
are in various stages of development and may never be fully developed in a
manner suitable for commercialization. If the Company is unable to develop,
receive approval for, or successfully commercialize any of its product
candidates, it will be unable to generate meaningful revenue from product
sales and may never become profitable. Additional information concerning
these and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially
from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements is contained in
the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for
the year ended December 31, 2006 and in the Company's other periodic
reports and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The
Company cautions investors not to place undue reliance on the
forward-looking statements contained in this press release. All
forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to
the Company on the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no obligation to
revise or update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or
circumstances after the date of this presentation, except as required by
law.
Note: EFAPROXYN(TM) and the Allos logo are trademarks of Allos
Therapeutics, Inc.
SOURCE Allos Therapeutics, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.allos.com
CONTACT:
Jennifer Neiman, Manager, Corporate
Communications of Allos Therapeutics, +1-720-540-5227,
jneiman@allos.com
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