SEATTLE, Nov. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI) announced today that Jim Fong has been appointed the company’s Vice President, Commercial Operations. Fong joins CTI with more than 20 years of sales and marketing experience. Most recently, Fong was National Sales Director at CV Therapeutics (CVT) in Palo Alto, California, where he led the launch of Ranexa(R) for chronic angina. CTI recently agreed to acquire the drug ZEVALIN(R) from Biogen Idec for development, marketing, and sale in the United States. Closing of the acquisition, which remains subject to closing conditions including obtaining certain third party consents, is expected in mid-November.
“Jim did a great job at the launch of Ranexa and streamlining CVT’s commercial operations. With his prior expertise in marketing and sales, and the launch of a novel blockbuster anti-cancer agent Camptosar(R), Jim has the ideal credentials to positively impact the ZEVALIN relaunch while optimizing the positioning of our future oncology products like pixantrone,” noted James A. Bianco, M.D., President and CEO of CTI.
Fong, who will report directly to Dr. Bianco, will be in charge of directing the sales and promotion of CTI products at the national and international levels. This will include product positioning, promotional programs, reimbursement strategies, and development and training of a national sales force.
“I am very pleased to join the CTI team and help re-establish a strong sales and marketing presence for the company,” said Fong. “ZEVALIN is a great product and CTI is on an upward growth path with multiple opportunities for product launches in the coming years.”
At CVT, Fong managed a sales team of more than 200 people, including business managers, marketing and sales operations, and the sales training department. Prior to CVT, Fong directed several sales teams and also had previous oncology experience at Pharmacia in launching Camptosar. Fong holds a BS from UCLA in Psychology.
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 http://www.cticseattle.com.
This press release includes forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, the outcome of which could materially and/or adversely affect actual future results. Specifically, the risks and uncertainties that could affect the development of ZEVALIN and our other potential products include risks associated with pre-clinical and clinical developments in the biopharmaceutical industry in general and with ZEVALIN in particular including, without limitation, the potential failure to obtain regulatory approval for label expansion of ZEVALIN, other determinations by regulatory, patent and administrative governmental authorities, competitive factors, technological developments, and costs of developing, producing and selling ZEVALIN. In addition, there is a risk that we may not be able to complete the acquisition of ZEVALIN due to closing conditions, including the need to obtain certain third party consents, or that we may not recognize the full expected value of ZEVALIN in future years. In addition, you should also review the risk factors listed or described from time to time in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including, without limitation, the Company’s most recent filings on Forms 10-K, 8-K, and 10-Q. Except as may be required by Italian law, CTI is under no obligation to (and expressly disclaims any such obligation to) update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
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Web site: http://www.cticseattle.com/
