Ronald B. Moss M.D. Is Named President
CARLSBAD, Calif., Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Signaling a move to
restructure and reposition the Company for potential product
commercialization, The Immune Response Corporation (Nasdaq: IMNR) announced
today a restructuring program and management changes aimed at reducing costs
and refocusing the Company on its most promising core product, REMUNE(R), the
Company's therapeutic AIDS vaccine.
As part of its exclusive focus on REMUNE(R), the Company announced the
layoffs of 28 of its 42 employees located at the Company's headquarters in
Carlsbad, California, affecting substantially all non-management employees not
working specifically on REMUNE(R). In order to ramp up manufacturing
capacity, the Company intends to add to its REMUNE(R) production facilities in
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania up to five full-time professionals. The
reductions are expected to contribute over time $7.2 million in savings on an
annual run rate at $600,000 in cost savings per month.
The management changes announced following a meeting on Friday,
September 6th, of the Company's board of directors include: the elevation of
Dr. Ronald B. Moss as new Company president, the launch of a nationwide search
for a new chief executive officer and the resignation of Dr. Dennis J. Carlo
as president and chief executive officer. Dr. Carlo served as president and
chief executive officer of the Company since 1994 and will remain a member of
the board of directors. Jed B. Trosper also was named as a new member of the
Company's board of directors.
"REMUNE(R) has the potential to help those afflicted with HIV and AIDS and
is Jonas Salk's legacy to mankind. It is important for us to take the
necessary steps to ensure the continuation of the development of this
promising therapeutic vaccine," Dr. Moss said. "I look forward to continuing
to work with leaders in the medical and scientific communities, as well as the
AIDS activist community, to demonstrate REMUNE(R)'s utility as a valuable
treatment for HIV-1 infection."
"I believe in the promise of REMUNE(R)and its future potential and
eventual regulatory approval," Dr. Carlo said. "As we seek to undertake
additional clinical testing of REMUNE(R), we will need to strengthen our
management team with a chief executive who can help us get REMUNE(R) approved
around the world."
With Dr. Moss' assumption of the management of day-to-day operations,
Michael Jeub, vice president of finance and chief financial officer, will
continue to manage the day-to-day financial operations, initiate cost control
efforts, seek to secure additional financing, and assist Dr. Moss in the
administration of the corporate offices.
In a move approved by the Company's board of directors, Dr. Moss will
assume his new responsibilities immediately while the Company initiates its
search for a new chief executive officer.
Named vice president, medical and scientific affairs at The Immune
Response Corporation in January of 2000, Dr. Moss joined the company as
medical director in 1994, and has maintained a clinical affiliation as an
assistant clinical professor at the University of California, San Diego School
of Medicine. Dr. Moss served two years as senior director of medical and
scientific affairs at the Company before being named executive director of
medical and scientific affairs in 1998. Dr. Moss is the author of more than
50 manuscripts and 80 abstracts on HIV and immunology, and is the editor in
chief of the Journal of Immune Based Therapies and Vaccines.
Jed B. Trosper Added to Board
Jed B. Trosper, chief executive officer of Spencer Trask & Co.'s Corporate
Venture Group, also was named to the board of directors.
Trosper is currently responsible for overseeing certain Spencer Trask
portfolio companies as they set and meet critical growth, financial and
operating milestones. He was most recently president of Home Shopping
Network's international division and former chief operating officer of the
Home Shopping Network, Inc.
Co-founded by medical pioneer, Dr. Jonas Salk and based in Carlsbad,
California, The Immune Response Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company
developing immune-based therapies designed to treat HIV, autoimmune diseases
and cancer. The Company also develops and holds patents on several
technologies that can be applied to genes in order to increase gene expression
or effectiveness, making it useful in a wide range of therapeutic applications
for a variety of disorders. Company information is also available at
http://www.imnr.com .
This news release contains forward-looking statements. Actual results
could vary materially from those expected due to a variety of risk factors,
including whether the Company will be successful in its efforts to employ a
new chief executive officer, whether the Company will continue as a going
concern, whether the Company will successfully raise proceeds from financing
activities sufficient to fund operations, the uncertainty of successful
completion of clinical trials, whether REMUNE(R) is effective as either a
preventive or therapeutic vaccine, whether future trials will be conducted and
whether the results of REMUNE(R) in clinical trials will coincide with the
results of REMUNE(R) in preclinical trials. These risks, among others, are
set forth in The Immune Response Corporation's SEC filings, including,
but not limited, to its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2001, and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. The Company
undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions to
these forward-looking statements, which may be made to reflect events or
circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of
unanticipated events.
REMUNE(R) is a registered trademark of The Immune Response Corporation.
SOURCE The Immune Response Corporation
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.imnr.com
CONTACT:
media, James Lee of The Lee Strategy Group,
+1-310-229-5771, fax +1-310-229-5772, jlee@leestrategy.com, for
The Immune Response Corporation; or investors, Kathy Lane of The
Immune Response Corporation, +1-760-771-2236, fax
+1-760-771-2140, info@imnr.com
|
