HOUSTON, Dec. 20, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLCM), a leader in developing novel, controllable cellular immunotherapies for cancers and orphan inherited blood disorders, today announced the appointment of Judith Klimovsky, M.D., to its board of directors effective December 20, 2018. Dr. Klimovsky currently serves as the Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer of Genmab, an international biotechnology company developing antibody therapeutics for cancer, where she leads the company’s product development efforts. She is replacing Frank McGuyer, who resigned from the board effective December 20, 2018. Mr. McGuyer served as a member of the board for nine years.
“We are pleased to welcome Judith to our board of directors; she brings to the board extensive leadership experience in drug development—particularly in our key focus areas of oncology and hematology. We’re looking forward to working closely with Judith as we continue to advance and expand our pipeline of controllable cell immunotherapies,” said Bellicum’s President & CEO Rick Fair. “We would also like to acknowledge and thank Frank McGuyer, who is stepping down as a director, for his many years of distinguished service to our Company.”
Dr. Klimovsky has more than 15 years of experience in product strategy, drug development and medical affairs for the biotech and pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Genmab, she held successively senior positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck and Novartis and led or contributed to the clinical development of key cancer drugs, including ixabepilone (BMS), MEK162, LGX818 and Afinitor (Novartis). Previously, Dr. Klimovsky served in various hematology clinical practice positions in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Dr. Klimovsky earned her M.D. from the Buenos Aires University School of Medicine.
About Bellicum Pharmaceuticals
Bellicum is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company striving to deliver cures through controllable cell therapies. The Company’s next-generation product candidates are differentiated by powerful cell signaling technologies designed to produce more effective CAR-T, TCR and allogeneic T cell therapies. Its lead product candidate, rivo-celTM, is an allogeneic polyclonal T cell therapy that has shown promising clinical trial results in reducing leukemia relapse after a stem cell transplant. Bellicum’s lead GoCAR-T® candidate, BPX-601, is designed to be a more efficacious CAR-T cell product capable of overriding key immune inhibitory mechanisms. More information can be found at www.bellicum.com.
Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our intentions, beliefs, projections, outlook, analyses or current expectations concerning, among other things: the anticipated benefits of Dr. Klimovsky’s appointment to our Board; our plans to advance and expand our pipeline of controllable cell immunotherapies; our research and development activities relating to our polyclonal T cell, CAR-T and TCR programs; our pipeline candidate’s effectiveness, possible ranges of application and potential safety and curative effects in the treatment of diseases, including as compared to other treatment options and competitive therapies; and the timing and success of our current and planned clinical trials. Various factors may cause differences between Bellicum’s expectations and actual results as discussed in greater detail under the heading “Risk Factors” in Bellicum’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including without limitation our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended September 30, 2018 and our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017. Any forward-looking statements that Bellicum makes in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. Bellicum assumes no obligation to update our forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this press release.
Source: Bellicum Pharmaceuticals