- Dr. Chell led Be the Match and the National Marrow Donor Program for 17 years establishing these organizations as the largest volunteer bone marrow transplant donor registry in the world that facilitates thousands of transplants per year
- Cofounder and current President and Chair of CLR Insurance, which was created to provide insurance support to the field of bone marrow transplantation
NEW YORK, May 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE AMERICAN:ATNM) ("Actinium" or "the Company"), announced today that Dr. Jeffrey Chell has been appointed to the Company’s Board of Directors. Dr. Chell has 25 years of healthcare industry, leadership and governance experience including building Be The Match and the National Marrow Donor Program (NMPD) into the largest donor registry in the world, co-founding the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplantation (CIBMTR), non-profit leadership, and practicing internal medicine as a physician in the United States Air Force and healthcare systems. In addition, Dr. Chell held leadership positions in managed care organizations that had in excess of one million members. Dr. Chell currently serves as President and Chair of CLR Insurance, an innovative insurer created to meet the specific needs of bone marrow transplant donors.
Sandesh Seth, Actinium’s Chairman and CEO said, “Dr. Chell has made incredible contributions to field of bone marrow transplant as CEO of Be The Match and NMDP, which fund critical research, registry, matching and supportive services that currently benefit thousands of patients in need of a bone marrow transplant. Actinium shares in this commitment to patients through our focus on improving bone marrow transplant access and outcomes through targeted myeloablation. Dr. Chell’s experience, knowledge and skills will allow him to make valuable contributions to Actinium and I look forward to working with him to build an organization that positively impacts a great number of patients.”
Dr. Chell said, “I am excited to join Actinium’s Board of Directors at this pivotal time in the Company’s evolution. Given my active involvement in the bone marrow transplant community, I have followed Actinium’s progress and the development of Iomab-B, which I believe represents a potentially revolutionary therapy for patients given its ability to enable targeted myeloablation. With the recent expansion of Actinium’s pipeline in the field of targeted myeloablation to multiple disease indications and targets, Actinium is now positioned to impact an even greater number of patients. A bone marrow transplant represents a potential cure for many patients and I look forward to working with the Actinium team to execute on a vision for the organization that enables these potentially curative therapies to be developed for as many patients as possible.”
Jeffrey W. Chell, M.D., became the National Marrow Donor Program’s Chief Executive Officer in 2000 where he led the NMDP through transformational growth as the Be The Match Registry tripled to more than 12 million donors, the number of transplants facilitated has grown five fold to over 6,400 annually, and blood transplants and revenue more than tripled to nearly $400 million per year. Dr. Chell is the co-founder and served as Executive Director of CIBMTR ®, the leading research program in the field contributing over 70 research publications per year in peer-reviewed journals. In addition, he served as co-chair of Bone Marrow Donors Worldwide (BMDW) during its IT transformation project, improving revenues and reducing costs. He then oversaw the merger of BMDW with World Marrow Donor Association and EuroCord. Dr. Chell currently serves as Chair of CLR Insurance, a captive insurance company domiciled in the Cayman Islands. Prior to joining the NMDP, he served as president, Allina Medical Clinics, a 450-physician multi-specialty medical group from 1994 to 1999. Prior to that he practiced Internal Medicine in Minneapolis and in the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps.
Dr. Chell received his M.D. from the University of Minnesota and his training in Internal Medicine at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Dr. Chell is a member of the American Society of Hematology and a member of the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. He has received multiple honors including the 2018 Public Service award of the ASBMT, 2017 Most Admired CEO by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, 2010 Healthcare Executive of the Year by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, 2017 Bone Marrow Foundation Service Award.
About Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing targeted therapies for potentially superior myeloablation and conditioning of the bone marrow prior to a bone marrow transplant and for the targeting and killing of cancer cells. Our targeted therapies have demonstrated the potential to result in significantly improved access to bone marrow transplant with better outcomes, namely increased marrow engraftment and survival. Our targeted therapies are ARC’s or Antibody Radio-Conjugates that combine the targeting ability of monoclonal antibodies with the cell killing ability of radioisotopes. We have four clinical trials based on our AWE or Actinium Warhead Enabling Technology Platform that utilizes the isotope Actinium-225 (Ac225) which emits alpha particles. In addition, our most advanced product candidate, Iomab-B, an ARC developed by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, is comprised of an anti-CD45 monoclonal antibody labeled with iodine-131. We are currently conducting a pivotal Phase 3 trial of Iomab-B for myeloablation and conditioning of the bone marrow prior to a bone marrow transplant for patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) age 55 and older. A bone marrow transplant is a potentially curative treatment for patients with AML and other blood cancers including leukemias, lymphomas and multiple myeloma as well as certain blood disorders. Iomab-B has been tested in several of these other cancers with over five hundred patients treated in several Phase 1 and 2 trials with promising results. Upon successful completion of our Phase 3 clinical trial for Iomab-B we intend to submit this candidate for marketing approval in the U.S. and European Union where it has been designated as an Orphan Drug. We are also developing a potentially best in class CD33 program using an ARC comprised of the anti-CD33 monoclonal antibody lintuzumab labeled with the alpha-particle emitter actinium-225. Our most advanced CD33 program candidate, Actimab-A, is currently in a Phase 2 clinical trial for patients advanced over the age of 60 who are newly diagnosed with AML and ineligible for standard induction chemotherapy. Actimab-A also has Orphan Drug designation in the US and EU. Actimab-M, our second CD33 program ARC, is being studied in a Phase 1 trial for patients with refractory multiple myeloma. Actinium is also planning a Phase 2 trial for Actimab-MDS, our third CD33 program candidate, as a conditioning regimen prior to a bone marrow transplant for patients with MDS that have a p53 genetic mutation. Our Phase 1 trial studying Actimab-A with CLAG-M is our fourth CD33 program clinical trial for patients with relapsed or refractory AML. Our AWE or Actinium Warhead Enabling Technology Platform, originally developed in conjunction with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, is focused on leveraging Actinium’s know how and intellectual property to create additional ARC drug candidates by labeling Ac225 to targeting moieties that we will either progress in clinical trials ourselves or out-license.
More information is available at www.actiniumpharma.com and our Twitter feed @ActiniumPharma, www.twitter.com/actiniumpharma.
Forward-Looking Statements for Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
This press release may contain projections or other “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe-harbor” provisions of the private securities litigation reform act of 1995 regarding future events or the future financial performance of the Company which the Company undertakes no obligation to update. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the anticipated or estimated future results, including the risks and uncertainties associated with preliminary study results varying from final results, estimates of potential markets for drugs under development, clinical trials, actions by the FDA and other governmental agencies, regulatory clearances, responses to regulatory matters, the market demand for and acceptance of Actinium’s products and services, performance of clinical research organizations and other risks detailed from time to time in Actinium's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including without limitation its most recent annual report on form 10-K, subsequent quarterly reports on Forms 10-Q and Forms 8-K, each as amended and supplemented from time to time.
Contact:
Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Steve O'Loughlin
Principal Financial Officer
soloughlin@actiniumpharma.com
Investor Relations
Marek Ciszewski, J.D.
949.574.3860
ATNM@liolios.com