Big news day for CTIC, which is following its TRISENOX patent allowance with an expansion fo the sales force:
>>SEATTLE, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Following its successful merger with Italy-based Novuspharma S.p.A, and the recent patent exclusivity extension for its marketed product TRISENOX®, Cell Therapeutics Inc (CTI) (Nasdaq: CTIC; Nuovo Mercato) is significantly expanding its European commercial operations by hiring sales personnel previously trained and deployed by PharmaMar, a Madrid-based cancer company. PharmaMar closed the sales activities it had established after its initial cancer product failed to gain European Marketing approval in late 2003.
"We saw this as a perfect opportunity for CTI-Europe. For the past two years PharmaMar made a significant financial investment not only in training an oncology sales force but also in identifying the physicians who treat the majority of patients with blood-related cancers in each of the major market countries in Europe where their field force was based," noted James A. Bianco, M.D., President and CEO of CTI. "We believe we can leverage PharmaMar's investment and significantly expand sales of TRISENOX in Europe."
"Within the next several weeks we expect to have approximately 16 fully trained field-based country managers and sales representatives in eight major market countries selling TRISENOX," noted Steve Aselage, CTI's Executive Vice President of Global Commercial Operations. "This experienced sales force will be useful in promoting additional commercial products, which we are actively seeking to acquire. This should be an exciting year for the global commercial team and a year of revenue growth for TRISENOX."
About TRISENOX®
TRISENOX® (arsenic trioxide) is marketed by CTI. TRISENOX was approved for marketing in 2000 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat patients with relapsed or refractory acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), a rare, life-threatening form of cancer of the blood. TRISENOX was granted marketing authorization from the European Commission in March 2002. APL, one of eight subtypes of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), represents 10-15 percent of the more than 20,000 patients diagnosed with AML each year. TRISENOX is currently being studied in more than 40 clinical and investigator-sponsored trials in a variety of cancers.
U.S. and European marketing authorization for TRISENOX was granted based on results from a U.S. multicenter study in which 40 relapsed APL patients were treated with TRISENOX 0.15 mg/kg until bone marrow remission or a maximum of 60 days. Thirty-four patients (85 percent) achieved complete remission. When the results for these 40 patients were combined with those for the 12 patients in a pilot trial, an overall response rate of 87 percent was observed.
WARNING: TRISENOX should be administered under the supervision of a physician who is experienced in the management of patients with acute leukemia. Some patients with APL treated with TRISENOX have experienced APL differentiation syndrome -- with symptoms similar to retinoic acid-acute promyelocytic leukemia (RA-APL) syndrome. Arsenic trioxide can cause QT prolongation (which can lead to torsade de pointes) and complete atrioventricular block.
The most common adverse events associated with TRISENOX have been generally manageable, reversible and usually did not require interruption of therapy. These have included hypokalemia, hypermagnesemia, hyperglycemia and thrombocytopenia as reported in 13 percent of the patients (n=40). Abdominal pain, dyspnea, hypoxia, bone pain and neutropenia were reported in 10 percent of these patients, while arthralgia, febrile neutropenia and disseminated intravascular coagulation were reported in eight percent of patients.<<
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Nice move getting a pre-trained force.
>>WASHINGTON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Cell Therapeutics Inc.(NasdaqNM:CTIC - News), a Seattle-based biotechnology firm, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (News - Websites) on Wednesday to periodically offer up to $75 million in common stock.
Net proceeds will be used for clinical development and manufacturing of existing products, research and development of new products, potential acquisitions, and working capital, according to the company's shelf registration statement.
Cell Therapeutics shares closed Tuesday at $9.60 on the Nasdaq stock market. <<
Cheers, Tuck |
