Celsion Clarifies FDA Warning Letter.Business Editors COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 25, 2004 CELSION CORPORATION (AMEX AMEX See: American Stock Exchange :CLN) announced today that it has received a warning letter from the Food and Drug Administration (the FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. ) regarding the Phase I and Phase II clinical trials of its Prolieve(TM) Thermodilatation system for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia benign prostatic hyperplasia n. Abbr. BPH A nonmalignant enlargement of the prostate gland commonly occurring in men after the age of 50, and sometimes leading to compression of the urethra and obstruction of the flow of urine. , or BPH. The FDA granted Premarketing Approval (PMA) to Celsion for the Prolieve system earlier this year, and the system currently is being marketed under a distribution agreement between Celsion and Boston Scientific Corporation. The warning letter reflects matters that arose during the course of a pre-approval inspection conducted by the FDA's Baltimore regional office from December 9 through December 18, 2003 under a program designed to ensure that data and information contained in certain submissions to the Agency are scientifically valid and accurate and to ensure that human subjects are protected from undue hazard or risk during scientific investigations. According to Carolyn Finkle, Celsion's Vice President-Regulatory, "We are committed to taking whatever actions are necessary to address fully the issues raised by the FDA. We are taking the FDA's letter very seriously and already have initiated short- and long-term corrective and compliance measures in response to the Agency's concerns. In addition, we have had two separate discussions with the Agency regarding both the actions that we have taken to date and those that we intend to take in the near future. Based on those discussions, we believe that we will be able to satisfy the Agency's concerns on a timetable that is achievable by us and acceptable to the FDA. So long as we succeed in fully addressing the issues raised by the FDA in a timely manner, and in light of the nature of the issues raised by the FDA, we do not anticipate that any further action by the FDA, including any actions that would affect the Prolieve PMA, will be warranted." The warning letter addressed four general areas--monitoring, investigational agreements, provision of information to certain investigators, and FDA reporting--in connection with the Prolieve studies, both of which were completed by January 2002. The corrective and compliance measures initiated by the Company since receipt of the warning letter are in addition to certain corrective and compliance actions taken earlier by the Company to address observations made by the FDA inspector in connection with the December inspection. These earlier actions were detailed in a written submission by the Company to the FDA on December 23, 2003. Anthony Deasey, Celsion's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. said, "Celsion is a growing company, committed to operating in full compliance with applicable FDA regulations. While receipt of a warning letter is not generally considered a positive development, I expect that the actions that we are taking and the systems and procedures that we are implementing in response to the FDA's letter ultimately will make us a stronger, more effective company going forward." About Celsion: Celsion Corporation, based in Columbia, Maryland, is a biotechnology company dedicated to the development and commercialization of treatment systems for cancer and other diseases using focused-heat energy, either administered alone, or in combination with other therapeutic devices, heat activated genes and heat activated drugs. In January 2003, Celsion entered into a strategic alliance with Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :BSX) in which Boston Scientific will initially distribute Celsion's BPH product worldwide. Boston Scientific currently owns approximately 7% of Celsion's outstanding stock. Celsion has research, license or commercialization agreements with leading institutions such as the National Institute of Health, Duke University Medical Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at Cambridge; coeducational; chartered 1861, opened 1865 in Boston, moved 1916. It has long been recognized as an outstanding technological institute and its Sloan School of Management has notable programs in business, , Harbor UCLA Medical Center UCLA Medical Center is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California. It is rated as one of the top three hospitals in the United States and is the top hospital on the West Coast according to US News & World Report. , Montefiore Medical Center Montefiore Medical Center, in the Bronx, New York, is the university hospital of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The hospital, named after Moses Montefiore, is one of the 50 largest employers in New York State [1]. and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City is a cancer treatment and research institution founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. The main campus is located at 1275 York Avenue, between 67th and 68th Streets, with other locations in New in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , Roswell Park Cancer Institute The Roswell Park Cancer Institute is a cancer research and treatment center located in Buffalo, New York. Founded in 1898 by Dr. Roswell Park, it was the first dedicated medical facility for cancer treatment and research in the United States. in Buffalo, New York, and Duke University. For more information on Celsion, visit our website: www.celsion.com. Celsion wishes to inform readers that forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995. Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, unforeseen changes in the course of research and development activities and in clinical trials by others; possible acquisitions of other technologies, assets or businesses; possible actions by customers, suppliers, competitors, regulatory authorities; and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. |
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