LONDON, ON–(Marketwired – September 13, 2016) – Critical Outcome Technologies Inc. (TSX VENTURE: COT) (OTCQB: COTQF) (“COTI” or the “Company”) a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing innovative and targeted therapies for the treatment of cancer, announced today that it has appointed Dr. Bharatt Chowrira to its Board of Directors. Dr. Chowrira has more than 20 years of industry experience that spans progressively senior management positions serving on and working with the boards of private and public companies.
“We are pleased to welcome such an accomplished biopharmaceutical executive to our Board,” said Mr. John Drake, Chairman of the Board. “During his career, Bharatt has been instrumental in several licensing and collaboration partnerships, and in raising significant amounts of equity for private and public companies. He is well-versed in pipeline development, portfolio evaluation and prioritization, and intellectual property law matters. We look forward to leveraging his expertise at the Board level.”
Dr. Chowrira is currently the President of Synlogic Inc, a U.S. biopharmaceutical company focused on synthetic biotics, where he has overseen and managed corporate and business development, alliance management, and financial and legal operations since September 2015. Prior to joining Synlogic, Dr. Chowrira was the Chief Operating Officer of Auspex Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Teva Pharmaceuticals in the spring of 2015. Previously, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Addex Therapeutics, a biotechnology company publicly-traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Before that, he held various leadership and management positions at Nektar Therapeutics, Merck & Co., Sirna Therapeutics, (acquired by Merck & Co.) and Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Chowrira has a J.D. from the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law, a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Vermont College of Medicine, a M.S. in Molecular Biology from Illinois State University, and a B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India.
“I am thrilled to be joining the COTI Board. I have been very impressed with the Company’s innovative approach to addressing difficult to treat gynecological cancers,” said Dr. Chowrira. “Selective targeting of the mutant forms of p53 protein, a central switch in a number of cancers, has been the focus of intense research in the field for a number of years with limited success. COTI scientists may potentially have solved this puzzle and are currently evaluating their lead oral small molecule candidate in women with gynecological cancers. If this compound is able to achieve efficacy in these patients, in my opinion this would be a major advance in this field. I am looking forward to working with the rest of the Board and management team at COTI to help grow the business as they continue to make significant progress.”
About Critical Outcome Technologies Inc.
COTI is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company advancing the treatment of cancer through targeted therapeutics. The Company’s lead compound, COTI-2, has a novel p53-dependent mechanism of action with selective and potent anti-cancer activity. The initial therapeutic indication is in gynecologic cancers, which includes ovarian, cervical, and endometrial cancers; treatment of patients in a Phase 1 clinical trial began at MD Anderson Cancer Center in February 2016. The Company has secured orphan drug status for the ovarian indication in the U.S. and is planning additional studies in other cancer indications such as head and neck, Li-Fraumeni Syndrome, and acute myelogenous leukemia, based upon more than ten animal xenograft models showing both single and combination agent activity of COTI-2 with other leading cancer drugs. Preclinical data provides evidence to suggest a potentially dramatic change in the treatment of cancers with mutations of the p53 gene.
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Notice to Readers
Information contained in this press release may contain certain statements, which constitute “forward-looking statements” as such term is defined under applicable securities laws. For example, the statements, “…COTI scientists may potentially have solved this puzzle and are currently evaluating their lead oral small molecule candidate in women with gynecological cancers. If this compound is able to achieve efficacy in these patients, in my opinion this would be a major advance in this field…” are forward‐looking statements. Forward‐looking statements by their nature are not guarantees of future performance and are based upon management’s current expectations, estimates, projections, and assumptions. COTI operates in a highly competitive environment that involves significant risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward‐looking statements. Management of COTI considers the assumptions on which these forward-looking statements are based to be reasonable, but as a result of the many risk factors, cautions the reader that actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. Information in this press release should be considered accurate only as of the date of the release and may be superseded by more recent information disclosed in later press releases, filings with the securities regulatory authorities or otherwise.
For more information, contact:
Dr. Wayne Danter
Chief Executive Officer
Tel: 519-858-5157
Email: [email protected]
Alison Silva
President
Tel: 860-798-0816
Email: [email protected]
