MISSISSAUGA, ON, June 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Vasogen Inc. (NASDAQ: VSGN - News; TSX: VAS - News), a biotechnology Company focused on the research and commercial development of technologies targeting the chronic inflammation underlying cardiovascular and neurological disease, today announced that Chris Waddick, MBA, CMA, has been appointed President and CEO of Vasogen, succeeding Terrance Gregg, who will remain as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Waddick, who previously served as Chief Operating Officer and CFO, has held a series of progressive senior management positions with Vasogen over the past twelve years. During his tenure, Mr. Waddick has played a key role in Vasogen’s development and strategic direction and has been responsible for the operations of the Company since 2005. Concurrent with his appointment as President and CEO, Mr. Waddick has also been appointed to the Board of Directors of Vasogen.
“Chris has been a key driver behind the operational success at Vasogen for over ten years and has an exceptional track record of performance and demonstrated leadership,” commented Terrance Gregg, Chairman of the Board of Vasogen. “Having worked closely with Chris, I have every confidence in his ability to lead Vasogen to commercialization. I look forward to continuing to oversee the strategic direction of the Company as we enter a very exciting stage of development.”
“I am pleased to assume the role of President and CEO of the Company that I have helped to build over the past 12 years,” commented Chris Waddick, President and CEO of Vasogen. “Having recently announced our collaboration with Grupo Ferrer for the commercialization of our lead product Celacade in the European Union and, as we work with the FDA to finalize the regulatory and product approval pathway for Celacade in the United States, I look forward to the continued development of our novel technologies targeting the inflammation underlying a number of serious diseases.”
Mr. Gregg, who resides in southern California, has today been named President and CEO of DexCom, Inc., a San Diego-based company focused on technologies for the continuous monitoring of glucose in people with diabetes. Mr. Gregg has spent the majority of his career developing technologies for diabetes management and this new appointment provides an opportunity for him to continue his passion for improving the lives of people with this disease.
About Vasogen:
Vasogen is a biotechnology company engaged in the research and commercial development of therapies designed to target the destructive inflammatory process associated with the development and progression of cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders. The Company’s lead product, the Celacade(TM) technology, is designed to activate the immune response to apoptosis - an important physiological process that regulates inflammation. Celacade(TM) is in late-stage development for the treatment of chronic heart failure and has received European regulatory approval under the CE Mark for this indication. Vasogen is also developing a new class of drugs for the treatment of certain neuro-inflammatory disorders and is preparing to advance VP025, the lead drug candidate from this new class, into phase II development.
Certain statements contained in this press release or elsewhere in our public documents constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and/or “forward-looking information” under the Securities Act (Ontario). These statements may include, without limitation, summary statements relating to results of the ACCLAIM trial in patients with chronic heart failure, plans to advance the development of Celacade(TM), plans to fund our current activities, statements concerning our partnering activities and health regulatory submissions, strategy, future operations, future financial position, future revenues, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may”, “will”, “should”, “expects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “estimated”, “predicts”, “potential”, “continue”, “intends”, “could”, or the negative of such terms or other comparable terminology. We made a number of assumptions in the preparation of these forward-looking statements, including assumptions about the nature, size and accessibility of the market for Celacade in the treatment of chronic heart failure, particularly in Europe, the regulatory approval process leading to commercialization and the availability of capital on acceptable terms to pursue the development of Celacade, and the feasibility of additional trials. You should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements which are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, future circumstances or events to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These risks include, but are not limited to, the outcome of further analysis of the ACCLAIM trial results, the requirement or election to conduct additional clinical trials, delays or setbacks in the regulatory approval process, securing and maintaining corporate alliances, the need for additional capital and the effect of capital market conditions and other factors on capital availability, the potential dilutive effects of any financing, risks associated with the outcomes of our preclinical and clinical research and development programs, the adequacy, timing and results of our clinical trials, competition, market acceptance of our products, the availability of government and insurance reimbursements for our products, the strength of intellectual property, reliance on partners, subcontractors, and key personnel, losses due to fluctuations in the U.S.-Canadian exchange rate, and other risks detailed from time to time in our public disclosure documents or other filings with the Canadian and U.S. securities commissions or other securities regulatory bodies. Additional risks and uncertainties relating to our Company and our business can be found in the “Risk Factors” section of our Annual Information Form and Form 20-F for the year ended November 30, 2006, as well as in our later public filings. The forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof, and we disclaim any intention and have no obligation or responsibility, except as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Unless otherwise indicated, numerical values indicating the statistical significance (“p-values”) of results included in this document are based on analyses that do not account for endpoint multiplicity.
Source: Vasogen Inc.
