- Mr. Oler joins Onconova’s management team as Vice President, Corporate Development and General Counsel, after an impactful tenure at Spectrum Pharmaceuticals
- Hiring reflects Onconova’s commitment to execute business development transactions to support the global development of Rigosertib
Onconova
Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ONTX), a Phase 3-stage biopharmaceutical
company focused on discovering and developing novel products to treat
cancer, with a primary focus on myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), today
announced that Mr. Abraham “Avi” Oler has joined Onconova’s management
team as Vice President, Corporate Development and General Counsel. Mr.
Oler will be primarily responsible for business development, investor
relations, and legal affairs of the Company.
To
help further advance Rigosertib, the Company’s Phase 3 candidate for
MDS, Mr. Oler’s focus will be on forging new collaborations in
additional geographies. Rigosertib is currently partnered with SymBio
Pharmaceuticals for Japan and Korea, and with Pint Pharma for Latin
America. Information about partnering opportunities can be obtained via
e-mail at bd@onconova.us or via the Company’s website: https://www.onconova.com/partnering.
Mr.
Oler served most recently as Vice President of Operations and Chief of
Staff to the CEO of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals. During his tenure, he was
instrumental in the company’s progress and productive licensing
activities. He served in varied roles of increasing responsibility, as a
member of the executive management team, the corporate development
team, and as Head of Alliances and Legal Affairs. Due to a series of
successful accomplishments, he was named Chief of Staff.
Previously,
Mr. Oler practiced corporate law at the law firm of Kirkland &
Ellis LLP. Prior to this, he was a financial research analyst at the
Center for Financial Research & Analysis, and an investment banker
with Lehman Brothers in London.
“We are
pleased to welcome Avi to Onconova,” commented, Ramesh Kumar, Chief
Executive Officer of Onconova. “We believe Avi is an accomplished
executive with the skill set and track record that will enable us to
achieve our business development goals.” Dr. Steve Fruchtman, President
of Onconova, stated, “I have seen Avi use his varied talents to bring
success and value, and execute impactful transactions in similar roles,
and I look forward to his contributions to Onconova. There has not been
an FDA approved treatment for higher-risk MDS in over a decade. The
promising data from the Phase 2 combination trial of oral rigosertib and
azacitidine (Vidaza®), presented at an oral session on MDS on December 1st
at the 2018 ASH Annual Meeting, as well as the continued execution of
the pivotal INSPIRE trial in higher-risk MDS, make this a particularly
exciting time for Avi to join Onconova.”
“I am
honored to join Onconova at such a momentous time, and to showcase
Onconova as a partner of choice,” said Mr. Oler. “Onconova’s pipeline
of clinical product candidates, the advanced stage of development of
Rigosertib, and the recent promising data presented at the ASH 2018
Annual Meeting make Onconova a compelling potential partner for other
companies. I am delighted to join my new colleagues at Onconova, to
have the opportunity to work with Steve again, and, along with the
Onconova Team and our Corporate Partners, work toward bringing a new
treatment option to patients with MDS.”
About Onconova Therapeutics, Inc.
Onconova
Therapeutics, Inc. is a Phase 3-stage biopharmaceutical company focused
on discovering and developing novel small molecule drug candidates to
treat cancer, with a primary focus on Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS).
Rigosertib, Onconova's lead candidate, is a proprietary Phase 3 small
molecule agent, which the Company believes blocks cellular signaling by
targeting RAS effector pathways. Using a proprietary chemistry
platform, Onconova has created a pipeline of targeted agents designed to
work against specific cellular pathways that are important in cancer
cells. Onconova has three product candidates in the clinical stage and
several pre-clinical programs. Advanced clinical trials with the
Company’s lead compound, Rigosertib, are aimed at what the Company
believes are unmet medical needs of patients with MDS. For more
information, please visit http://www.onconova.com.
About IV Rigosertib
The
intravenous form of rigosertib has been employed in Phase 1, 2, and 3
clinical trials involving more than 800 patients, and is currently being
evaluated in a randomized Phase 3 international INSPIRE trial for
patients with higher-risk MDS, after failure of hypomethylating agent,
or HMA, therapy.
About INSPIRE
The
INternational Study of Phase III IV RigosErtib, or INSPIRE, was
finalized following guidance received from the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration and European Medicines Agency and derives from the
findings of the ONTIME Phase 3 trial. INSPIRE is a multi-center,
randomized controlled study to assess the efficacy and safety of IV
rigosertib in HR-MDS patients who had progressed on, failed to respond
to, or relapsed after previous treatment with an HMA within the first 9
months or nine cycles over the course of one year after initiation of
HMA treatment. This time frame optimizes the opportunity to respond to
treatment with an HMA prior to declaring treatment failure, as per NCCN
Guidelines. Following interim analysis in early 2018, the independent
Data Monitoring Committee recommended that the trial continue with an
expansion in enrollment to 360 patients based on a pre-planned sample
size re-estimation. Patients are randomized at a 2:1 ratio into two
treatment arms: IV rigosertib plus Best Supportive Care versus
Physician's Choice plus Best Supportive Care. The primary endpoint of
INSPIRE is overall survival. Full details of the INSPIRE trial, such as
inclusion and exclusion criteria, as well as secondary endpoints, can be
found on clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02562443).
About Oral Rigosertib
The
oral form of rigosertib was developed to provide more convenient dosing
for use where the duration of treatment may extend to multiple years.
This dosage form may also support many combination therapy modalities.
To date, 413 patients have been treated with the oral formulation of
rigosertib. Initial studies with single-agent oral rigosertib were
conducted in hematological malignancies, lower-risk MDS, and solid
tumors. Combination therapy of oral rigosertib with azacitidine and
chemoradiotherapy has also been explored. Currently, oral rigosertib is
being developed as a combination therapy together with azacitidine for
patients with higher-risk MDS who require HMA therapy. The results of a
Phase 1/2 trial combination therapy with azacitidine were presented at
the 2018 ASH Annual Meeting. This novel combination is the subject of
an issued U.S. patent with earliest expiration in 2028.
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