Celsion Corporation Trying To Shift Focus From Med Devices To Drugs

When Dr. Lawrence Olanoff got a call from his friend and former research mentor, Kris Venkat, asking if he would like to join him on the board of a small Maryland biotech company called Celsion Corp., Olanoff had to decline. His job as executive vice president at Forest Laboratories, a pharmaceutical company, prohibited him from such roles. But when Venkat called back to ask Olanoff if he wanted to run Celsion, he reconsidered -- and decided to become the company’s CEO, guiding it through a critical evolution. Celsion is trying to change from a medical device company to a biopharmaceutical firm, one that develops and markets drugs instead of what has been its bread and butter: a device that uses microwave heat and a proprietary catheter and balloon compression technology to treat prostate cancer. Now, the company is pinning its hopes on a potential liver cancer drug the company also thinks can be used to treat breast cancer. Celsion gained regulatory approval last year for its Prolieve device, which costs urologists more than $20,000, and expects to sell $12 million worth of machines this year, up from its initial projections.

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