Actinium Announces Expansion of R&D Team and Facilities to Accelerate Research Programs Focused on Solid Tumors and Novel Combinations with Checkpoint Inhibitors and Radioconjugates
- Actinium has completed the expansion of its research facilities to focus on the development of targeted radiotherapies for solid tumors and blood cancers.
- The company has more than doubled its laboratory footprint and increased its R&D team, including the appointment of Dr. Helen Kotanides as Vice President, Translational Research and Preclinical Development and Dr. Monideepa Roy as Vice President, Corporate Development - R&D.
- The expansion of R&D capabilities allows Actinium to accelerate its efforts in targeted radiotherapy and highlight new initiatives and programs.
- None.
NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE AMERICAN: ATNM) ("Actinium" or the "Company"), a leader in the development of targeted radiotherapies for patients with unmet needs, today announced multiple updates on its R&D capabilities. Actinium recently completed expansion of its New York City based research facilities to focus on the development of targeted radiotherapies for solid tumors and blood cancers and to investigate novel radiotherapy combinations with checkpoint inhibitors. Actinium has more than doubled its laboratory footprint and expanded its R&D capabilities. In addition to infrastructure, Actinium has increased its R&D team to include scientists with expertise across cancer biology, immunology, radiation sciences and chemistry including the appointment of Helen Kotanides, Ph.D., as Vice President, Translational Research and Preclinical Development and Monideepa Roy, Ph.D., as Vice President, Corporate Development - R&D to its R&D leadership team.
Sandesh Seth, Actinium's Chairman and CEO, said, "I am delighted to announce the addition of Dr. Kotanides and Dr. Roy to the Actinium R&D leadership team. Targeted radiotherapy is rapidly being established as a differentiated therapeutic modality capable of producing results where other approaches have failed. We intend to continue to be at the forefront of innovation in the field, leveraging our deep understanding of radioconjugate behavior, AWE technology platform, clinical and supply chain experience, and most importantly our team of leading scientists and clinicians to achieve our objectives focused on solid tumor indications and novel targeted radiotherapy combinations. The addition of Dr. Kotanides and Dr. Roy in senior R&D leadership positions and the expansion of our R&D capabilities allows us to significantly accelerate these efforts. We look forward to showcasing our expanded R&D capabilities in the near future and highlight new initiatives and programs to complement our late-stage targeted radiotherapy clinical program led by Iomab-B, which we recently completed enrollment for the pivotal Phase 3 SIERRA trial."
Dr. Kotanides joins Actinium from Eli Lilly after a distinguished career with continued succession through multiple positions culminating as Senior Research Advisor, Cancer Immunobiology. Dr. Kotanides brings nearly 25 years of R&D experience from ImClone Systems and then Eli Lilly with a focus on the preclinical discovery and development of oncology biologic drugs. She has extensive first-hand knowledge and experience in cancer biology and immunotherapy, including target discovery and the testing, development, and advancement of biologics, immune checkpoint therapies, and targeted therapies. As a result, Dr. Kotanides has led several preclinical programs to successful IND filings. Dr. Kotanides received her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, her master's degree in Biology from New York University and her bachelor's degree in Biology from Clark University.
Dr. Roy is a scientist-entrepreneur whose experience includes tenure as CEO of an early-stage oncology drug development company and nearly a decade in academic experience that includes training and work experience at Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. Roy joins Actinium from Akamara Therapeutics, where she most recently served as Vice President, Corporate Development and Operations. As a founding member and interim CEO at Akamara, she played a critical role in recruiting an executive team, establishing the Company's corporate and R&D strategy, operational execution and growing the global team from 4 to 40. During her tenure at Akamara, she contributed to partnership/collaboration efforts, developed portfolio strategies, evaluated technology platforms, oversaw research activities to support IND filings, led regulatory preparation and submissions, and worked to generate and secure intellectual property. Prior to Akamara, she was Director, Research and Development at Invictus Oncology Pvt. Ltd., a drug discovery company developing novel I/O and conjugated antibody therapies. Here she co-led the licensing of technology from Brigham and Women's Hospital, raised Series A financing, established the Company's strategy around a B-cell immunotherapy platform and established an international research capability to advance the Company's technologies. Additionally, she established a network of KOLs and identified and evaluated supramolecular platform technologies. Prior to industry, Dr. Roy was a Lecturer at Harvard University, was a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Special Fellow and Research Fellow, Dept. Of Pathology at Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Dr. Roy received her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Jawaharlal Nehru University, her master's degree in Biophysics and Molecular Biology from the University College of Science, Calcutta and her bachelor's degree in Human Physiology from Presidency College, Calcutta.
About Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing targeted radiotherapies to deliver cancer-killing radiation with cellular level precision to treat patients with high unmet needs not addressed by traditional cancer therapies. Actinium's current clinical pipeline is led by ARCs or Antibody Radiation-Conjugates that are being applied to targeted conditioning, which is intended to selectively deplete a patient's disease or cancer cells and certain immune cells prior to a BMT or Bone Marrow Transplant, Gene Therapy or Adoptive Cell Therapy (ACT) such as CAR-T to enable engraftment of these transplanted cells with minimal toxicities. Actinium's targeted conditioning ARCs seek to improve patient outcomes and access to these potentially curative treatments by eliminating or reducing the non-targeted chemotherapy that is used for conditioning in standard practice currently. Our lead product candidate, I-131 apamistamab (Iomab-B) has been studied in several hundred patients including in the recently fully enrolled, 150-patient, pivotal Phase 3 Study of Iomab-B in Elderly Relapsed or Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia (SIERRA) trial for BMT conditioning. Iomab-ACT, low dose I-131 apamistamab is being studied as a targeted conditioning agent in a Phase 1 study with a CD19 CAR T-cell Therapy with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In addition, we are leaders in the field of Actinium-225 alpha therapies. Actimab-A, our clinical stage CD33 targeting ARC alpha therapy has been studied in nearly 150 patients including our ongoing combination trials with the salvage chemotherapy CLAG-M and the Bcl-2 targeted therapy venetoclax. Underpinning our clinical programs is our proprietary AWE (Antibody Warhead Enabling) technology platform. This is where our intellectual property portfolio of over 160 patents, know-how, collective research and expertise in the field are being leveraged to construct and study novel ARCs and ARC combinations to bolster our pipeline for strategic purposes. Our AWE technology platform is currently being utilized in a collaborative research partnership with Astellas Pharma, Inc. Website: https://www.actiniumpharma.com/
Forward-Looking Statements for Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
This press release may contain projections or other "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe-harbor" provisions of the private securities litigation reform act of 1995 regarding future events or the future financial performance of the Company which the Company undertakes no obligation to update. These statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the anticipated or estimated future results, including the risks and uncertainties associated with preliminary study results varying from final results, estimates of potential markets for drugs under development, clinical trials, actions by the FDA and other governmental agencies, regulatory clearances, responses to regulatory matters, the market demand for and acceptance of Actinium's products and services, performance of clinical research organizations and other risks detailed from time to time in Actinium's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including without limitation its most recent annual report on form 10-K, subsequent quarterly reports on Forms 10-Q and Forms 8-K, each as amended and supplemented from time to time.
Investors:
Hans Vitzthum
LifeSci Advisors, LLC
Hans@LifeSciAdvisors.com
(617) 430-7578
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