FREDERICK, Md., Sept. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Vaccinogen, Inc. has appointed veteran biotechnology executive Michael L. Kranda as President and Chief Executive Officer to guide it through its next stage of growth.
“The timing couldn’t be better as the company proceeds to finance and launch our pivotal Phase III clinical trial,” said Michael G. Hanna, Jr., Ph.D., Vaccinogen’s Founder & Chairman and inventor of the company’s unique cancer-fighting vaccine OncoVAX®.
Co-founder and COO Andrew L. Tussing said Mr. Kranda was the clear choice to head the break-through biopharmaceutical company. “He has the vision and experience to lead us through this important phase in our growth,” Mr. Tussing said.
“I’m excited about OncoVAX®'s potential to save lives and Vaccinogen’s role as a pioneer in using autologous vaccines to combat cancer,” said Mr. Kranda. “I look forward to building on the OncoVAX® technology to create an important and leading company in the cancer vaccine arena.”
Literally Turning Cancer on Itself, Vaccinogen works to harness the body’s immune system to prevent the recurrence of cancer in patients recovering from the disease.
Mr. Kranda brings to Vaccinogen more than two decades of experience developing biotechnology platforms, products and companies. He sits on the board of directors of several companies including PTC Therapeutics.
Previously, Mr. Kranda served as the CEO, President and Director of Anesiva. Prior to joining Anesiva, Mr. Kranda was Managing Director of Vulcan Capital, Paul Allen‘s investment arm, where he led the life science venture investments team. Mr. Kranda also served as CEO of Oxford GlycoSciences, and led their listings on the LSE and NASDAQ exchanges and prior to that was President and COO of Immunex (now Amgen).
Mr. Kranda holds a BA and an MBA from the University of Washington School of Business.
About OncoVAX®
OncoVAX® transforms the body’s immune response to prevent the return of the disease after surgery. As published in the journal Human Vaccines, Stage II OncoVAX® patients achieve “a 57.1% relative risk reduction in the recurrence of colon cancer” vs. the control patients in a previous clinical trial.
About Vaccinogen
Vaccinogen develops and commercializes cancer vaccines and other immunotherapeutic products Turning Cancer on Itself. Based in Frederick, MD, the Company has a portfolio of product candidates for the treatment of cancer in various stages of clinical development.
Contact: | |
Andrew L. Tussing | |
Vaccinogen | |
atussing@vaccinogeninc.com | |
301-668-8400 | |
SOURCE Vaccinogen, Inc.
