SEATTLE, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI) will host an Analyst/Investor Day at the Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York City on November 9 to discuss the company’s new approach to drug development and provide updates on its product pipeline, and regulatory and commercial strategies.
The event will be moderated by Daniel D. Von Hoff, M.D., Physician-in- Chief and Director of the Clinical Translational Research Division at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Chief Scientific Officer of U.S. Oncology. Von Hoff will discuss the Context of Vulnerability, a new method of cancer drug development that involves finding a cancer’s “weak spot” by defining the molecular and genetic alterations (context) that cause cancer cells to be particularly vulnerable to a drug or combination of drugs. He will also provide an overview of CTI’s product candidate brostallicin, a synthetic second-generation DNA minor groove binding agent with cancer killing activity and a favorable safety profile in more than 200 patients treated to date in clinical trials.
“There is a clinical and genomic vulnerability which we can exploit now to improve a patient’s chance of benefiting from a particular therapy,” said Dr. Von Hoff.
Von Hoff also serves as a Professor of Medicine, Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Pathology at the University of Arizona. Dr. Von Hoff focuses on the discovery and development of new anticancer agents and was deeply involved in the development of mitoxantrone, fludarabine, paclitaxel, docetaxel, gemcitabine, irinotecan, and others.
Other speakers include Fredrick B. Hagemeister, M.D., of The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, who will discuss ZEVALIN(R) (ibritumomab tiuxetan), which CTI is seeking to acquire from Biogen Idec.* ZEVALIN(R) is the first FDA-approved radioimmunotherapy, indicated for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory low-grade or follicular B-cell non- Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL), including patients with rituximab-refractory NHL. CTI expects to complete its acquisition of ZEVALIN(R) in the fourth quarter of 2007; the transaction remains subject to certain closing conditions including obtaining certain third party consents.
Peter Borchmann, M.D. of the University Hospital in Cologne, Germany will present on pixantrone, an investigational agent under development for the potential treatment of various hematological malignancies, solid tumors and immunological disorders. It was developed to improve the activity and safety of the anthracycline family of anti-cancer agents and to reduce the potential for severe cardiotoxicities.
An update on XYOTAX(TM) (paclitaxel poliglumex, CT-2103) for the potential treatment of lung cancer will be presented by Kenneth O’Byrne, M.D., of the HOPE St. James Hospital in Dublin, Ireland. XYOTAX is a biologically-enhanced chemotherapeutic agent that links paclitaxel, the active ingredient in Taxol(R), to a biodegradable polyglutamate polymer.
About Cell Therapeutics, Inc.
Headquartered in Seattle, CTI is a biopharmaceutical company committed to developing an integrated portfolio of oncology products aimed at making cancer more treatable. For additional information, please visit www.cticseattle.com.
Zevalin(R) Black Box Warning
Rare deaths associated with an infusion reaction symptom complex have occurred within 24 hours of rituximab (RITUXAN) infusions. Yttrium-90 ZEVALIN(R) administration results in severe and prolonged cytopenias in most patients. Severe cutaneous and mucocutaneous reactions have been reported. The most serious adverse reactions of the ZEVALIN(R) therapeutic regimen were primarily hematologic, including neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, andanemia. Infusion-related toxicities were associated with pre-administration of rituximab. The risk of hematologic toxicity correlated with the degree of bone marrow involvement prior to ZEVALIN(R) therapy. Myelodysplasia or acute myelogenous leukemia was observed in 2 percent of patients (8 to 34 months after treatment). ZEVALIN(R) should only be used by healthcare professionals qualified by training and experience in the safe use of radionuclides.
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CONTACT: Media, Dan Eramian, +1-206-272-4343, cell, +1-206-854-1200, or
Susan Callahan, +1-206-272-4472, fax, +1-206-272-4434,
media@ctiseattle.com; or Investors, Leah Grant, +1-206-282-7100, fax,
+1-206-272-4434, invest@ctiseattle.com
Web site: http://www.cticseattle.com/
