Dr. Manuel Hidalgo Appointed Director and Scientific Advisor of Champions Biotechnology, Inc.
June 11 2007 - 10:40AM
PR Newswire (US)
ARLINGTON, Va., June 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Champions
Biotechnology, Inc. (OTC:CSBR) (BULLETIN BOARD: CSBR) , a
development stage biotechnology company, announced the appointment
of Dr. Manuel Hidalgo to serve as a Director on the Company's Board
of Directors and as a Scientific Advisor. In that capacity he will
advise and assist the Company in the development of novel
Benzoylphenylurea (BPU) sulfur analog compounds and the novel human
cancer xenograft platform that the Company acquired recently. In
addition, Dr. Hidalgo will advise the Company on future therapeutic
drug candidates and technologies that the Company intends to
acquire. He will also assist the Company in the formation of its
Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Manuel Hidalgo, M.D., Ph.D., is the
Associate Professor of Oncology at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive
Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and
Director of the Centro Integral Oncologia "Clara Campal" in Madrid,
Spain. He is considered a leading researcher in the field of
targeted therapies for the treatment of cancer in patients with
solid tumors. His research interest focuses on the development of
novel anticancer agents for patients with gastrointestinal cancer
by measuring target receptor and molecular anomalies, as well as
analyzing biological activity in the tumor and normal tissues of
patients treated with specific therapies. Dr. Hidalgo's laboratory
has been involved in the development of the Champions
Biotechnology's BPU sulfur analog compounds, published recently in
the American Association for Cancer Research Journal of Molecular
Cancer Therapeutics, Vol. 6, Issue 5, May 2007, 1509-16. "The
Company is very excited to have such a recognized leader in the
field agree to join its Board of Directors and also become the
Scientific Advisor," said James Martell, Chairman, President and
CEO of Champions Biotechnology. "Dr. Hidalgo's combination of
clinical and research expertise and contacts in industry and
government will be invaluable to the Company as we begin our growth
as a biotechnology company." Dr. Hidalgo has published over 140
papers in prestigious cancer journals as well as numerous chapters
in important textbooks. He has received numerous awards including
an AACR Young Investigator Award, an NCI-EORTC fellowship and an
ASCO Career Development Award. He has served on the editorial board
of the Journal of Clinical Oncology and Clinical Cancer Research
and is a Senior Editor for Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. Dr.
Hidalgo has chaired the AACR and ASCO Program Committee in
developmental therapeutics on numerous occasions and is frequently
invited to speak at major national and international meetings. He
chairs the Pancreatic Cancer Research Team, a nonprofit
organization focused on clinical trials in pancreatic cancer and is
also a member of the NCI Developmental Therapeutics Study Section.
About Champions Biotechnology, Inc. Champions Biotechnology is a
biotechnology company that is engaged in the acquisition and early
stage development of a portfolio of new therapeutic drug candidates
and also the acquisition and development of novel technologies that
Champions Biotechnology hopes will improve methods of and
approaches to disease treatment. This is being accomplished by
drawing upon the established expertise, knowledge and insight of
experts, including two of Champions Biotechnology's shareholders,
Drs. David Sidransky and Manuel Hidalgo, who have wide-ranging
contacts in the pharmaceutical industry, academia and government.
Champions Biotechnology plans to develop a portfolio of new
therapeutic drug candidates through pre-clinical trials and
possibly early phase ("first in man") clinical trials. If
therapeutic drug candidates reach this early stage of development,
Champions Biotechnology intends to partner with, sell or license
them to pharmaceutical and/or biotechnology companies, as
appropriate. Management believes this strategy will enable
Champions Biotechnology to leverage the competencies of these
partners or licensees to maximize Champions Biotechnology's return
on investment in a relatively short time frame. Champions
Biotechnology believes that this model is unlike that of typical
new biotechnology companies that look to bring the process of drug
development through all phases of discovery, development,
regulatory approvals, and marketing, which requires a very large
financial commitment and a long time, typically more than a decade,
to realize. In February 2007, Champions Biotechnology acquired the
patent rights to two novel Benzoylphenylurea (BPU) sulfur analog
compounds that have shown promising potent activity against in
vitro and in vivo models of prostate and pancreatic cancer. In May
2007, Champions Biotechnology acquired Biomerk Inc. a company
focused on generating a novel preclinical platform of human cancer
tumor immune-deficient mice xenografts (Biomerk Tumorgrafts(TM)).
Biomerk Tumorgrafts(TM), unlike standard cell line derived
xenografts, are implanted directly from primary human cancer tumors
and never passaged in cell tissue culture. Champions Biotechnology
believes that these xenografts more closely reflect human cancer
biology and are more predictive of clinical outcome. Champions
Biotechnology has several patent applications relating to xenograft
models used for identifying potentially active chemotherapeutic
agents. Champions Biotechnology believes that pharmaceutical
companies, as part of their drug discovery and post marketing
efforts, are more receptive to utilizing services that are more
predictive and that might provide for a faster and less expensive
path for their drug approval. These services will allow for their
screening of Biomerk Tumorgrafts(TM) to evaluate tumor
sensitivity/resistance to various single and combination standard
and novel chemotherapy agents. This press release contains
"forward-looking statements" (within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Act of 1995) that inherently involve risk and
uncertainties. Champions Biotechnology generally uses words such as
"believe," "may," "could," "will," "intend," "expect,"
"anticipate," "plan," and similar expressions to identify
forward-looking statements. One should not place undue reliance on
these forward-looking statements. Champions Biotechnology's actual
results could differ materially from those anticipated in the
forward-looking statements for many unforeseen factors, which may
include, but are not limited to, changes in general economic
conditions, the ongoing threat of terrorism, ability to have access
to financing sources on reasonable terms and other risks that are
described in this document. Although Champions Biotechnology
believes the expectations reflected in the forward- looking
statements are reasonable, they relate only to events as of the
date on which the statements are made, and Champions
Biotechnology's future results, levels of activity, performance or
achievements may not meet these expectations. Champions
Biotechnology does not intend to update any of the forward-looking
statements after the date of this press release to conform these
statements to actual results or to changes in Champions
Biotechnology's expectations, except as required by law.
DATASOURCE: Champions Biotechnology, Inc. CONTACT: James Martell of
Champions Biotechnology, Inc., +1-703-526-0400
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