REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 6, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:THLD) today announced the appointment of Eric Malek as Vice President, Corporate Development. Mr. Malek joins Threshold as a member of the senior management team and will lead business development, strategy and planning with an initial focus on partnering the Company's clinical stage hypoxia activated prodrug, TH-302.
"We are excited to welcome Eric to Threshold," said Barry Selick, chief executive officer. "His extensive partnering and product planning expertise as well as in-depth knowledge of the oncology therapeutic area will be a valuable addition to the Company as we expand into randomized controlled clinical trials with TH-302."
Mr. Malek is an accomplished business executive, bringing 15 years of biotech industry experience to Threshold. Most recently, Mr. Malek led corporate development at BiPar Sciences where he initiated the partnering effort that led to the $500 million acquisition by Sanofi-Aventis. Prior to BiPar, Mr. Malek was Vice President, Corporate Development at Allos Therapeutics, where he led the acquisition and product planning efforts for FOLOTYN TM, recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma. Before Allos, Mr. Malek held business development positions at Gilead Sciences, NeXstar Pharmaceuticals and Ilex Oncology as well as research positions at Janssen Pharmaceutica, the University of Arizona and University of Michigan.
Mr. Malek received a B.A. in Biochemistry from the University of Arizona and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan.
About Threshold Pharmaceuticals
Threshold is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of drugs targeting the tumor microenvironment. This approach offers broad potential to treat most solid tumors. By selectively targeting tumor cells, we are building a pipeline of drugs that hold promise to be more effective and less toxic to healthy tissues than conventional anticancer drugs. For additional information, please visit our website (www.thresholdpharm.com).