IRVINE, Calif., July 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that all six of the Company’s nominees to the Board of Directors were re-elected at the Annual Meeting of Stockholders held on Thursday, July 6, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. PT at the corporate headquarters in Irvine, CA. Each of the six continuing directors, who received over 94% of the votes cast, will serve for a one-year term. The continuing directors are Dr. Stuart Krassner, Mr. Anthony Maida, Dr. Dilip Mehta, Dr. Rajesh Shrotriya, Dr. Julius Vida and Mr. Richard Fulmer. In addition, the stockholders approved by over 93% of the votes cast a proposal to increase the authorized number of shares of common stock to 100 million shares.
“As we begin our transformation from a drug development to a commercialization company, I believe we have the right team in place to guide us during this exciting period,” stated Dr. Shrotriya, Chairman, CEO and President of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals. “My fellow Board members have tremendous experience in the biotechnology arena and a track record of success. With their varied backgrounds in academia, research and development, licensing, business development, finance and marketing, I believe we have the necessary mix of talent and experience to drive continued success for the company and its stockholders.”
BIOGRAPHIES Dr. Stuart Krassner * Over forty years of experience in various positions at the University of California, Irvine, at the School of Biological Sciences. * Developed and reinforced FDA and NIH compliance procedures for UCI-sponsored human clinical trials and animal research, and established UCI’s first institutional review board. * Published many articles in peer-reviewed journals and lectured at Harvard Medical School, The John Hopkins University, NIH, and WHO. Mr. Anthony Maida * Over twenty-five years of experience in senior executive positions, including fifteen years as CEO of several emerging biotech companies. * Served as Senior Financial Controller of $1.7 billion division of Lockheed Missiles and VP, CFO of Dataplant, Inc. * Provides technical and corporate advisory services to many pharmaceutical firms, serves on a number of biotechnology boards and advises many investment and venture capitalist firms. * Currently involved in basic research involving tumor immunology. Dr. Dilip Mehta * Over forty years in the pharmaceutical industry in several top-level executive positions. * Spent fifteen years at Pfizer, Inc., most recently as Senior Vice President, U.S. Clinical Research. * Under his leadership, numerous drugs were developed and many achieved multi-billion dollar annual sales, including Zithromax(R), Viagra(R), Norvasc(R), Zoloft(R) and others. * Served as Chair, Efficacy Section, for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). * Currently serves as a member of the FDA’s Psychopharmacology Advisory Committee. Dr. Rajesh Shrotryia * Over thirty years of experience in a number of senior executive positions at several publicly traded pharmaceutical companies focused in the area of oncology research. * Spent eighteen years at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, a leading pharmaceutical company in the area of cancer products. * Has served as Chairman, CEO and President of Spectrum since August 2002. Dr. Julius Vida * Over forty years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. * Spent eighteen years at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, most recently as VP, Business Development, Licensing and Strategic Planning, where he was credited for in-licensing numerous drugs, many of which reached annual sales in the billions of dollars. * Serves as a member of the Board of Directors of several biotechnology companies. * Played an integral role in licensing satraplatin to Spectrum prior to being appointed to the Company’s board of directors. Mr. Richard Fulmer * Spent twenty-four years at Pfizer, Inc. in a number of high-level marketing and business development capacities, including over five years as Vice President Licensing and Development. * Was a key part of the commercial launch of the leading anti-fungal agent Diflucan, the number one selling SSRI antidepressant Zoloft, and the novel alpha-blocker Cardura used for benign prostate hypertrophy. * Responsible for the formation of a strategic alliance between Pfizer and Eisai related to the clinical development and commercialization of Aricept for Alzheimer’s disease, the creation of a co-development and co-promotion agreement between Pfizer and Park Davis for Lipitor, and the creation of an alliance at Pfizer for the commercialization of Exubera, a pulmonary insulin product.
Following the formal business of the meeting, Dr. Shrotriya discussed Spectrum’s achievements since the annual stockholders meeting in 2005, as well as reiterated the Company’s key milestones for the next 18 months.
The key milestones anticipated in 2006 and 2007 include: * Full analysis of Phase 3 clinical trial data for satraplatin will be completed in the fall, and if the data is positive, the rolling new drug application (NDA) could be completed in the U.S. by the end of 2006. * If the NDA for satraplatin is approved, the product could be on the market in the second half of 2007. * Submission of the response to the CMC questions on LFA is expected in the first quarter 2007, and if the product is approved, it could be on the market in late 2007. * Initiation of the Phase 3 trial in the U.S. for EOquin(TM) is expected in the fourth quarter of 2006. * The patent trial for the Company’s generic product, sumatriptan injection, the generic version of GlaxoSmithKline’s Imitrex(R) injection, is planned for November 2006, and if the Company is successful in the litigation and the abbreviated new drug application is approved, the product could be on the market in late 2007. About Spectrum Pharmaceuticals
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals is a specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in the business of acquiring, developing and commercializing prescription drug products for the treatment of cancer and other unmet medical needs. By leveraging its operational flexibility and regulatory proficiency, and using the extensive research and development capabilities of its strategic alliance partners, Spectrum has built a diversified portfolio of proprietary and generic drug products in various stages of development and regulatory approval. For more information, please visit our website at www.spectrumpharm.com.
Forward-looking statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements regarding future events and the future performance of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These statements include but are not limited to statements that relate to our business and its future, the Company’s operational flexibility and regulatory proficiency, the extensive research and development capabilities of the Company’s strategic alliance partners, the transformation from a drug development to a commercialization company, the right team in place to guide us during this exciting period, the necessary mix of Board talent and experience to drive continued success for the company and its stockholders, that full analysis of Phase 3 clinical trial data for satraplatin will be completed in the fall, and if the data is positive, that the rolling new drug application (NDA) could be completed in the U.S. by end of 2006, that if the NDA for satraplatin is approved, the product could be on the market in the second half of 2007, that the submission of the response to the CMC questions on LFA is expected in the first quarter 2007, and if the product is approved, it could be on the market in late 2007, that the patent trial for the Company’s generic product, sumatriptan injection, the generic version of GlaxoSmithKline’s Imitrex(R) injection, is planned for November 2006, and if the Company is successful in the litigation and the abbreviated new drug application is approved, the product could be on the market in late 2007, that the initiation of the Phase 3 trial in the U.S. for EOquin(TM) is expected in the fourth quarter of 2006, and any statements that relate to the intent, belief, plans or expectations of Spectrum or its management, or that are not a statement of historical fact. Risks that could cause actual results to differ include the possibility that our existing and new drug candidates, may not prove safe or effective, the possibility that our existing and new drug candidates may not receive approval from the FDA, and other regulatory agencies in a timely manner or at all, the possibility that our existing and new drug candidates, if approved, may not be more effective, safer or more cost efficient than competing drugs, the possibility that price and other competitive pressures may make the marketing and sale of our generic drugs not commercially feasible, the possibility that our efforts to acquire or in-license and develop additional drug candidates may fail, our lack of revenues, our limited experience in establishing strategic alliances, our limited marketing experience, our limited experience with the generic drug industry, our dependence on third parties for clinical trials, manufacturing, distribution and quality control and other risks that are described in further detail in the Company’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Imitrex(R) is a registered trademark of GlaxoSmithKline. Contacts: Rajesh C. Shrotriya, M.D. Russell Skibsted Chairman, CEO & President S.V.P., Chief Business Officer (949) 743-9295 949-743-9234
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
CONTACT: Rajesh C. Shrotriya, M.D., Chairman, CEO & President,+1-949-743-9295, or Russell Skibsted, S.V.P., Chief Business Officer,+1-949-743-9234, both of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Web site: http://www.spectrumpharm.com//
