Celsion Corporation Taps New President/CEO; Dr. Lawrence Olanoff Joins Company From Post at Forest Laboratories.COLUMBIA, Md. -- CELSION CORPORATION (AMEX AMEX See: American Stock Exchange :CLN CLN Clean CLN Community Learning Network CLN Colon CLN Celsion Corporation CLN Class Library for Numbers CLN Credit Linked Note CLN Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale (Committee of National Liberation) CLN Corn Lethal Necrosis ) today announced the appointment of Dr. Lawrence Olanoff, age 53, as President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors. Dr. Olanoff will assume this role effective July 29, 2005. Celsion also announced that Dr. Augustine Y. Cheung, Celsion's current President and Chief Executive Officer, will continue as the Company's Chief Scientific Officer and a member of the Board of Directors. Dr. Olanoff brings to Celsion extensive drug development experience. He joined Forest Laboratories (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :FRX) in 1995 as Vice President--Scientific Affairs and has been Executive Vice President--Scientific Affairs since December 1998. Dr. Olanoff also headed the Forest Research Institute, a division of Forest Labs, where he was responsible for the leadership of all technical and scientific areas. While at Forest Labs, Dr. Olanoff led a group that obtained approval in the U.S. for a number of New Drug Applications (NDAs) across a range of therapeutic areas. Prior to joining Forest Labs, Dr. Olanoff was Senior Vice President, Clinical Research and Development, of Sandoz Pharmaceutical Corporation (1993-1995). Earlier he was with the Upjohn Company (1984-1993), serving in a number of positions that led to his appointment as Corporate Vice President--Clinical Development and Medical Affairs. Dr. Olanoff holds a Ph.D. (biomedical engineering) and an M.D. degree from Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Max Link, Chairman of Celsion's Board of Directors said "Celsion is at a critical point in its development as it completes its transition from being a medical device company to a full-fledged biotech company. Dr. Olanoff brings a breadth and depth of expertise across the entire spectrum of drug development activities, including completion of clinical studies and the regulatory approval process. Further, his strong leadership experience will be invaluable to Celsion as we continue the development of ThermoDox(TM), our thermo-liposomal encapsulation of doxorubicin." Dr. Link continued, "Dr. Olanoff's distinguished scientific credentials and valuable experience as a senior manager in both large and mid-sized pharmaceutical companies give us great confidence that he will lead Celsion forward in achieving key milestones and maximizing the potential of our unique technology." Dr. Olanoff commented "I am very pleased to be joining Celsion at this stage of its development. I am excited at the potential for ThermoDox and look forward to building a pipeline of cancer treatment opportunities based on Celsion's heat- activated liposome liposome (lī`pəsōm', lĭp`ə–), microscopic, fluid-filled pouch whose walls are made of layers of phospholipids identical to the phospholipids that make up cell membranes. technology. I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with Celsion's outstanding staff to develop this potentially break-through technology and look forward to early success with the focused development of ThermoDox in combination with radio frequency ablation to treat primary liver cancer." Dr Augustine Cheung Celsion's founder added "I am delighted to put the future of Celsion into Larry's hands. I am very confident that his experience and leadership will enable Celsion to fulfill my vision." Celsion has research, license or commercialization agreements with leading institutions such as the National Institutes 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: http://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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