NEWTON, Mass., Sept. 12, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq:KPTI), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, today announced the appointment of Humphrey A.R. Gardner MD, FCAP, as Senior Vice President, Clinical Development. Dr. Gardner will be responsible for clinical development planning and strategy, including building and leading clinical teams to achieve the Company’s long-term strategic objectives, and will report to Sharon Shacham, PhD, MBA, President and Chief Scientific Officer of Karyopharm.
“Dr. Gardner’s extensive clinical and industry experience will be invaluable to Karyopharm as we continue forward with advancing our lead, novel, oral Selective Inhibitor of Nuclear Export (SINE™) compound, selinexor, as well as our other wholly-owned pipeline programs,” said Dr. Shacham. “I am pleased to welcome Dr. Gardner to the Karyopharm team, and look forward to leveraging his expertise as we strive towards our ultimate goal of providing novel, effective new therapeutic options to patients with inadequately treated cancers.”
“It is an honor to join Karyopharm at such a pivotal point in the Company’s history, and I look forward to working with Drs. Kauffman and Shacham and the rest of the leadership team to advance and expand selinexor clinical development activities,” said Dr. Gardner. “We believe this promising therapy holds great potential as a much needed treatment option for patients suffering from diseases with high unmet needs, including those with both heavily pretreated and earlier relapsed multiple myeloma.”
Dr. Gardner brings more than 25 years of experience in industry and academic clinical research to Karyopharm, with a strong track record in oncology drug development. He most recently served as Clinical Vice President of Translational Medicine at AstraZeneca, where he oversaw Oncology Translational Medicine at AstraZeneca’s Boston site and served as Medical Science Director for multiple clinical-stage oncology programs, including multiple programs incorporating small molecule and immuno-oncology compounds. Before joining AstraZeneca in 2011, he served as Senior Director and Global Head of Oncology Translational Laboratories at Novartis, and as Associate Director and Head of Research Pathology at Biogen Idec. Prior to his extensive industry experience, Dr. Gardner was an Assistant Professor at the Scripps Research Institute, and held clinical posts including Associate Pathologist at the Veterans Association and Resident in Anatomical Pathology at Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He received postdoctoral training at the Whitehead Institute of MIT, and his Medical Degree and Bachelor’s Degree in Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
About Karyopharm Therapeutics
Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq:KPTI) is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel first-in-class drugs directed against nuclear transport and related targets for the treatment of cancer and other major diseases. Karyopharm's SINE™ compounds function by binding with and inhibiting the nuclear export protein XPO1 (or CRM1). The Company's initial focus is on seeking regulatory approval and commercialization of its lead drug candidate, oral selinexor (KPT-330). To date, over 1,600 patients have been treated with selinexor and it is currently being evaluated in several mid- and later-phase clinical trials across multiple cancer indications, including multiple myeloma in combination with low-dose dexamethasone (STORM) and backbone therapies (STOMP), and in acute myeloid leukemia (SOPRA), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (SADAL), and liposarcoma (SEAL), among others. Karyopharm plans to initiate a pivotal randomized Phase 3 study of selinexor in combination with bortezomib (Velcade®) and low-dose dexamethasone (BOSTON) in patients with multiple myeloma in early 2017. In addition to single-agent and combination activity against a variety of human cancers, SINE™ compounds have also shown biological activity in models of neurodegeneration, inflammation, autoimmune disease, certain viruses and wound-healing. Karyopharm, which was founded by Dr. Sharon Shacham, currently has five investigational programs in clinical or preclinical development. 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. 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), 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, including with respect to the need for additional clinical studies; 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 Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2016, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on August 4, 2016, 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.