NEWTON, Mass., Oct. 27, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq:KPTI), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, announced today that it has expanded its operational footprint with a wholly-owned European subsidiary and appointed Ran Frenkel, an international executive with significant experience managing European clinical operations and regulatory affairs activities within the biopharmaceutical industry, as Executive Vice President, Worldwide Clinical Development. Reporting to Sharon Shacham, PhD, MBA, President and Chief Scientific Officer of Karyopharm, Mr. Frenkel will be responsible for managing the new subsidiary, Karyopharm Europe GmbH, which will be headquartered in Munich, Germany and will provide the corporate structure necessary to support Karyopharm's expanded clinical and regulatory activities in Europe.
"The establishment of this European subsidiary will provide a strong base of clinical, medical and regulatory expertise to support our registration-directed clinical studies, which are being conducted primarily in Europe and the United States, as well as in Canada and other countries," said Sharon Shacham, PhD, MBA, President and Chief Scientific Officer of Karyopharm. "With a growing team in Europe and Ran at the helm, we have the resources and support to manage our current and planned clinical trials and to build additional European infrastructure as needed."
Ran Frenkel has more than 20 years of experience in the international biopharmaceutical industry encompassing clinical, regulatory, business development and commercial operations activities. Prior to joining Karyopharm Europe GmbH, Mr. Frenkel held a number of senior management roles in Europe, Israel and the United States, most recently as Managing Director EMEA for Clinipace Worldwide, an international clinical research organization, where he had responsibility for the overall management of the organization in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to joining Clinipace Worldwide, Mr. Frenkel established and managed the Israeli office of PFC Pharma Focus AG, which was acquired by Clinipace in 2011, and he held the position of Managing Director at Actelion Pharmaceuticals with responsibility for all science and business affairs of the company in Israel.
About Karyopharm Therapeutics
Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq:KPTI) is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel drugs directed against nuclear transport targets for the treatment of cancer and other major diseases. Karyopharm's Selective Inhibitors of Nuclear Export / SINE™ compounds function by binding with and inhibiting the nuclear export protein XPO1 (or CRM1). The inhibition of XPO1 by Karyopharm's lead drug candidate, Selinexor (KPT-330), a first-in-class, oral SINE™ compound, leads to the accumulation of tumor suppressor proteins in the cell nucleus, which subsequently reinitiates and amplifies their tumor suppressor function. This is believed to lead to the selective induction of apoptosis in cancer cells, while largely sparing normal cells. To date, over 450 patients have been treated with Selinexor in Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials in advanced hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. Karyopharm has initiated a registration-directed clinical trial of Selinexor in older patients with acute myeloid leukemia and two additional registration-directed clinical trials in hematological indications are expected to begin enrollment during 2014. Additional Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies are ongoing or currently planned, including multiple investigator-sponsored studies of Selinexor in combination with one or more approved therapies. The latest clinical trial information for Selinexor is available at www.clinicaltrials.gov. SINE™ compounds have also shown biological activity in models of autoimmune disease, certain viruses, and wound-healing. Karyopharm was founded by Dr. Sharon Shacham and is located in Newton, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit www.karyopharm.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include those regarding the therapeutic potential of and potential clinical development plans for Karyopharm's drug candidates, including the timing of initiation of certain trials and of the reporting of data from such trials. Such statements are subject to numerous important factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from the company's current expectations. For example, there can be no guarantee that any of Karyopharm's SINE™ compounds, including Selinexor (KPT-330), or any other drug candidate that Karyopharm is developing will successfully complete necessary preclinical and clinical development phases or that development of any of Karyopharm's drug candidates will continue. Further, there can be no guarantee that any positive developments in Karyopharm's drug candidate portfolio will result in stock price appreciation. Management's expectations and, therefore, any forward-looking statements in this press release could also be affected by risks and uncertainties relating to a number of other factors, including the following: Karyopharm's results of clinical trials and preclinical studies, including subsequent analysis of existing data and new data received from ongoing and future studies; the content and timing of decisions made by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory authorities, investigational review boards at clinical trial sites and publication review bodies; Karyopharm's ability to obtain and maintain requisite regulatory approvals and to enroll patients in its clinical trials; unplanned cash requirements and expenditures; development of drug candidates by Karyopharm's competitors for diseases in which Karyopharm is currently developing its drug candidates; and Karyopharm's ability to obtain, maintain and enforce patent and other intellectual property protection for any drug candidates it is developing. These and other risks are described under the caption "Risk Factors" in Karyopharm's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and in other filings that Karyopharm may make with the SEC in the future. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and Karyopharm expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.