Thursday, 02 July 2015 08:00 AM
NEWARK, DE / ACCESSWIRE / July 2, 2015 / Accurexa Inc. (the "Company") (OTCQB: ACXA), a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing novel neurological therapies, announced today that William Callahan has been appointed to its Board of Directors, effective July 1, 2015.
Mr. Callahan has spent most of his more than 30-year career in emerging growth companies in the medical device, drug delivery and pharmaceutical industry, establishing and growing operations groups, and participating in the launch of numerous new products. Mr. Callahan has experience in the translation of research and development projects into commercially viable products, commercial development of new products, set-up of quality control procedures and documentation, and operations. He has been Senior Director Manufacturing Operations at AcelRx since March 2014. He was a director of the Company’s board from January 2013 until March 2014, and was a consultant to the pharmaceutical and medical technology industries from February 2012 until March 2014. From October 2009 until February 2012, he was Vice President Operations for Depomed, Inc. His previous tasks have included establishing GMP manufacturing operations and engineering groups whose responsibilities covered product assembly/manufacturing, process and product development, scale up and technology transfer activities, equipment and process qualification and validation execution, and support of regulatory FDA submissions. Commercial products that he worked on include in-vitro diagnostic devices (Lifescan and Avocet Medical Inc.), medical equipment (Applied Biosystems), transdermal pharmaceutical products (Cygnus Therapeutics), and solid oral drug delivery products (Depomed, Inc). Throughout his career he has held positions of increasing responsibility in engineering and operations groups at Lifescan – a Johnson & Johnson Co., Applied Biosystems, Cygnus Therapeutics, Avocet Medical, and Depomed, Inc. He received a B.S. degree in Chemistry from San Francisco State University.
"We are pleased that Bill is joining us at this important time for Accurexa. With our recent equity financing, we are in a position to continue our product development and build out our operations. Bill's experience in these areas will add great value to our team," said George Yu, the Company's President & CEO.
"I am delighted to join Accurexa as an emerging company developing novel therapies. I have spent the majority of my career in emerging growth companies and look forward to providing new insights and guidance as the company continues to grow," said William Callahan, Director of the Company.
About Accurexa, Inc.
The Company is focused on developing and commercializing novel neurological therapies based on its proprietary BranchPoint device delivering therapeutics directly into specific regions of the brain. The BranchPoint device can deliver therapeutics through the radial deployment of a flexible delivery catheter to large and anatomically complex brain targets through a single initial brain penetration. Clinicians can "tailor" therapeutic delivery to individual patient anatomy and specific disease targets, which may enhance the efficacy of therapies.
The Company is also developing its ACX-31 program which could deliver temozolomide, a chemotherapy drug, directly to brain cancer sites with its BranchPoint device. Temozolomide is a generic, approved, first-line chemotherapy drug that is indicated for the treatment of adult patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme concomitantly with radiotherapy and then as maintenance treatment. Before temozolomide became generic, it generated US sales of $420 million and global sales of $910 million under its brand name Temodar in 2012. However, current standard of care of delivering temozolomide to tumor sites through oral administration is limited by the blood-brain-barrier and orally administered temozolomide increases patient survival by a significant but modest 2.5 months from a 12.1 months median overall survival. Additional information about the Company may be found on its website, www.accurexa.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This release contains certain "forward-looking statements" relating to the business of the Company. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included herein are "forward-looking statements" including statements regarding: the ability of the Company to successfully develop and commercialize novel neurological therapies based on its BranchPoint device and its ACX-31 program, and execute its business plan; the business strategy, plans, and objectives of the Company; and any other statements of non-historical information. These forward-looking statements are often identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes," "expects" or similar expressions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they do involve assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, and these expectations may prove to be incorrect. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including those discussed in the Company's periodic reports that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on its website (http://www.sec.gov). All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors. Other than as required under the securities laws, the Company does not assume any duty to update these forward-looking statements.
Contact Investor Relations:
Capital Group Communications
575 Bridgeway, Sausalito CA 94965
Mark Bernhard
Tel: 415-332-7200
[email protected]
Mark Gundy
Tel: 972-240-1873
[email protected]
Accurexa Inc.
[email protected]
Tel.: 415-494-7850
SOURCE: Accurexa Inc.