Delcath Systems, Inc. Appoints Dr. Krishna Kandarpa its Executive Vice President R&D and Chief Medical Officer
October 02 2009 - 5:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
NEW YORK, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Delcath Systems, Inc.
(NASDAQ: DCTH), a medical technology company testing its
proprietary treatment method for primary and metastatic cancers to
the liver, announced that it appointed Krishna Kandarpa, MD, PhD,
its Executive Vice President, Research & Development, and Chief
Medical Officer, effective October 10, 2009. Dr. Kandarpa replaces
Mark Morrison, MD, PhD, who resigned to pursue other interests.
Prior to joining Delcath, Dr. Kandarpa, 58, was tenured Professor
and former Chair of the Department of Radiology at the University
of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) and Radiologist-in-Chief at
the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center, which he
joined in 2002. He was also a faculty member at the
Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Division of Health
Sciences and Technology, for more than a decade, from 1987 to 1998.
Before deciding to attend medical school at the University of
Miami, Dr. Kandarpa was a Research and Development Engineer at
Duracell International Laboratory for Physical Science. He earned a
PhD in Engineering Science & Mechanics from Penn State
University and a BS in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering from
Washington University (St. Louis). "Dr. Kandarpa brings to Delcath
a compelling mix of skills," said Eamonn P. Hobbs, President and
CEO of Delcath. "As a leading research scientist, a respected
clinician, and a trained engineer and skilled inventor, Dr.
Kandarpa is uniquely qualified to provide guidance to our
regulatory submissions and additional clinical development
programs, to communicate effectively with clinicians seeking new
treatments for hard-to-treat cancers, and to play a key leadership
role in R&D and new product development. We expect that Dr.
Kandarpa will be a great asset to our organization, particularly as
we now prepare to conclude the Phase 3 Trial of our Percutaneous
Hepatic Perfusion System (PHP) for the regional delivery of
melphalan to the liver, submit data to the FDA and EU, and ready
ourselves for commercialization. I would like to thank Dr. Morrison
for his many contributions to Delcath during the past year and wish
him well in his future endeavours." "I'm very excited about joining
Delcath Systems at this important time in the Company's
development," said Dr. Kandarpa. "The clinical progress to date
with the Phase 3 Trial is quite encouraging and we eagerly
anticipate the trial's enrolment completion so that analysis of the
data can begin in preparation of our submission to the FDA. I look
forward to working with our team as we explore other indications
for which the Delcath PHP System(TM) may deliver effective
therapy." Dr. Kandarpa has served on several national and
international expert panels and consensus groups on endovascular
interventions. Before joining the University of Massachusetts
Memorial Medical Center in 2002, he was at the Weill Medical
College of Cornell University, where he was a Professor of
Radiology and Chief of Service and Director of the Division of
Cardiovascular & Interventional Radiology at The New York
Presbyterian Hospital (Cornell). Dr. Kandarpa is past-President
(1997-2001) and past-Chair (2001-2002) of the Cardiovascular &
Interventional Radiology Research and Education Foundation (CIRREF)
of the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR). He completed his
final term on the Board of Directors of the Academy of Radiology
Research in 2007. Dr. Kandarpa has authored over 50 original
peer-reviewed scientific publications, including book chapters and
solicited review articles, and is the author/editor of several
specialized books, including The Handbook of Interventional
Radiologic Procedures, and a new textbook entitled Peripheral
Vascular Interventions (2008), which will be available in Chinese
this year. About Delcath Systems, Inc. Delcath Systems, Inc. is a
medical device company specializing in cancer treatment. The
Company is testing a proprietary, patented drug delivery system for
the treatment of liver cancers. Delcath's novel drug delivery
platform is testing the delivery of ultra-high doses of anti-cancer
drugs to the liver while preventing these high doses of drug from
entering the patient's bloodstream. The Company is currently
enrolling patients in Phase III and Phase II clinical studies for
the treatment of liver cancers using high doses of melphalan. The
Company's intellectual property portfolio consists of twenty-seven
patents on a worldwide basis including the U.S., Europe, Asia and
Canada. For more information, please visit the Company's website at
http://www.delcath.com/. The Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995 provides a safe harbor for forward-looking statements
made by the Company or on its behalf. This news release contains
forward-looking statements, which are subject to certain risks and
uncertainties that can cause actual results to differ materially
from those described. Factors that may cause such differences
include, but are not limited to, uncertainties relating to our
ability to successfully complete Phase III clinical trials and
secure regulatory approval of our current or future drug-delivery
system and uncertainties regarding our ability to obtain financial
and other resources for any research, development and
commercialization activities. These factors, and others, are
discussed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. You should not place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they
are made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise
these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances
after the date they are made. DATASOURCE: Delcath Systems, Inc.
CONTACT: Investors, Doug Sherk or Stacey Fisher, +1-415-896-6820,
or Media, Steve DiMattia, +1-646-201-5445, all of EVC Group, for
Delcath Systems, Inc. Web Site: http://www.delcath.com/
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