Lixte Biotechnology Holdings Announces New Appointment To Board Of Directors
EAST SETAUKET, N.Y., Nov. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- John S. Kovach, M.D., Chair, Board of Directors and CEO of Lixte Biotechnology Holdings, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: LIXT), announces the appointment of Stephen K. Carter, M.D. to the company's Board of Directors.
Dr. Carter is a highly experienced leader and administrator in cancer therapeutics and cancer drug development. For 13 years, he was associated with Bristol-Meyers Co. and Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Co. holding successively the positions of Senior Vice President, Anti-Cancer Research; President, Division of Pharmaceutical Research and Development, and ultimately Senior Vice President, Worldwide Clinical Research and Development, Pharmaceutical Research Institute. Most recently Dr. Carter was Senior Vice President of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs at Sugen, Inc., after serving as Senior Vice President for Research and Development at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Carter held leadership roles in academia and government including Deputy Director, Division of Cancer Treatment, National Cancer Institute and Director, Northern California Cancer Program.
Dr. Carter is currently a director on the boards of; Cytogen Corporation, Alfacell Corporation, Tapestry Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Callisto Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Vion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Celator.
"We are extremely pleased that Dr. Carter has joined our board of directors. Steve has had an exceptional career and is internationally recognized for his expertise in cancer drug development. In addition to his depth of knowledge and experience in applied cancer research and the pharmaceutical industry, he has served on the boards of various publicly held companies. He brings Lixte a wealth of experience in oversight and governance. We very much look forward to working with him" stated Dr. Kovach.
About Lixte Biotechnology Holdings, Inc.:
Lixte Biotechnology Holdings, Inc. (Lixte) is a cancer therapeutics and diagnostics company. Founded as a biomarker-diagnostics company in 2005, the company develops new chemotherapy drugs targeting molecular abnormalities of common human cancers. Over the past year, based on the discovery of a new biomarker for brain cancers by collaborators at NIH, the company is developing new drugs for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GMB), the most common and most aggressive type of primary brain cancer in adults and, to a much lesser extent, in children.
GBM occurs annually in 20,000 to 25,000 adults in the United States and in a comparable number of individuals in Europe. At present, there is no curative treatment known for this disease. Standard treatment involves surgery, radiation and the use of one or more chemotherapeutic agents at the time of initial treatment. At relapse, which occurs in essentially all patients, the present standard treatment is a drug, Temozolomide, that is associated with a modest increase in life span measured in months. Thus, there is an urgent need for more effective treatments for this disease.
Over the next year, as part of its collaboration with NIH, the company will complete the determination of the effectiveness of a lead compound from each of two different classes of drugs developed by Lixte that are active against GBM in the test tube. The next step will be characterization of the anti-tumor activity of these drugs in an animal model of human GBM and description of their pharmacologic behavior and metabolism in animals. Subsequently, the toxicity profiles of active drugs will be determined in pre- clinical toxicology studies. Should the results of the foregoing tests and studies prove successful, we hope to satisfy all requirements of the FDA for approval of, at least, one lead compound for evaluation in Phase I trials in late 2008 or early 2009. Lixte will also evaluate the anti-cancer activity of its new compounds against two life-threatening cancers of children, neuroblastoma and medulloblastoma, and against several common cancers of adults in addition to GBM.
About the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), (NIH):
NINDS (www.ninds.nih.gov) is a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and is the nation's primary supporter of biomedical research on the brain and nervous system.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) - The Nation's Medical Research Agency - includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. For example, statements regarding the Company's financial position, business strategy and other plans and objectives for future operations, and assumptions and predictions about future product demand, supply, manufacturing, costs, marketing and pricing factors are all forward-looking statements. These statements are generally accompanied by words such as "intend," anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "potential(ly)," "continue," "forecast," "predict," "plan," "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect" or the negative of such terms or other comparable terminology. The Company believes that the assumptions and expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, based on information available to it on the date hereof, but the Company cannot provide assurances that these assumptions and expectations will prove to have been correct or that the Company will take any action that the Company may presently be planning. However, these forward-looking statements are inherently subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results or experience may differ materially from those expected or anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, regulatory policies, available cash, research results, competition from other similar businesses, and market and general economic factors. This discussion should be read in conjunction with the condensed consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in Item 1 of the Quarterly Report on Form 10-QSB for the quarter ending June 30, 2007.
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SOURCE Lixte Biotechnology Holdings, Inc.
Released November 29, 2007