CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AVEO Oncology (NASDAQ:AVEO) today announced the appointment of Michael N. Needle, M.D., to the position of Chief Medical Officer. In this role, Dr. Needle, a board certified hematologist/oncologist, will take a leadership role in evaluating clinical development strategies for advancement of the Company’s partnered and proprietary pipeline programs. He will report to Michael Bailey, AVEO’s president and chief executive officer.
“Michael Needle’s unique set of experiences, which includes clinical development, global regulatory strategy as well as business development for transformational oncology therapeutics, will enable him to add important insights to our evaluation of biomarker-driven clinical strategies and partnerships for advancing our pipeline,” said Michael Bailey, president and chief executive officer. “These strategies will be designed to achieve our goal of maximizing the value of our pipeline for shareholders. Having worked with Michael on the approval of Erbitux® in colorectal cancer, and followed his career at Celgene and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and Consortium, I believe that his commitment to improving patient outcomes and to data driven drug development will add valuable perspective at a critical time for AVEO.”
“AVEO has a rich, if under-recognized, clinical pipeline with the potential to meaningfully benefit a number of underserved patient populations,” said Dr. Needle. “This potential is illustrated by the Company’s biomarker work, including data which led to the innovative Biodesix partnership for ficlatuzumab in lung cancer, as well as data from studies with both tivozanib and AV-203. As part of the AVEO management team, I look forward to supporting the planned advancement of these programs, as well as AV-380 for the treatment of cachexia.”
Dr. Needle has more than 15 years of pharmaceutical industry experience in drug development and regulatory affairs. This includes central roles in the development of oncology and hematology drugs, including Erbitux® (cetuximab), Revlimid® (lenalidomide) and Pomalyst® (pomolidimide). He most recently served as the Chief Medical Officer of Array BioPharma. Prior to Array, Dr. Needle was Chief Medical Officer of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and Consortium (MMRF). Prior to MMRF, he held multiple Vice President level positions at Celgene in Clinical Research and Development in Oncology, Strategic Medical Business Development, and Pediatric Strategy. Dr. Needle also served as the Vice President of Clinical Affairs at ImClone Systems Incorporated. Dr. Needle did his fellowship in Pediatric Hematology / Oncology at the Children's Hospital Medical Center and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center of the University of Washington in Seattle and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Dr. Needle has held faculty positions at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University. Dr. Needle graduated from Binghamton University with a Bachelor of Arts in Physics and received his medical degree from SUNY Downstate Medical Center, in Brooklyn, New York.
About AVEO
AVEO Oncology (NASDAQ:AVEO) is a biopharmaceutical company committed to developing targeted therapies through biomarker-driven insights to provide substantial improvements in patient outcomes where significant unmet medical needs exist. AVEO’s proprietary Human Response Platform™ has delivered unique insights into cancer and related disease biology that are being leveraged in the clinical development of its therapeutic candidates. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.aveooncology.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements of AVEO within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “target,” “potential,” “could,” “should,” “seek,” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These forward-looking statements include, among others, statements about the expected benefits to AVEO of Mr. Needle’s background and experiences; and the potential of the AVEO’s clinical pipeline to benefit underserved patient populations. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements that AVEO makes due to a number of important factors, including risks relating to: AVEO’s ability to successfully implement and manage its recently announced restructuring and obtain the benefits it expects to derive from the reduction in its workforce and internal research functions; AVEO’s ability to execute on its business strategy and enter into and maintain new strategic partnerships and collaboration agreements; AVEO’s ability to successfully enroll and complete clinical trials of its product candidates; AVEO’s ability to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA, EMA, or equivalent foreign regulatory agencies, the safety, efficacy and clinically meaningful benefit of its product candidates; AVEO’s ability to achieve and maintain compliance with all regulatory requirements applicable to its product candidates; AVEO’s ability to obtain and maintain adequate protection for intellectual property rights relating to its product candidates and technologies; developments and expenses related to AVEO’s ongoing shareholder litigation and SEC inquiry; AVEO’s ability to raise the substantial additional funds required to achieve its goals; unplanned capital requirements; adverse general economic and industry conditions; competitive factors; and those risks discussed in the section titled “Risk Factors” included in AVEO’s most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in its other filings with the SEC. The forward-looking statements in this press release represent AVEO’s views as of the date of this press release. AVEO anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause its views to change. However, while AVEO may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, it specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. You should, therefore, not rely on these forward-looking statements as representing AVEO’s views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.