MADISON, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Madison Vaccines Incorporated (MVI) today announced the appointment of Jeff Bailey to the Company’s Board of Directors. Mr. Bailey brings nearly 30 years of experience based on a diverse set of leadership positions to aid MVI’s mission to bring immunotherapies to their full potential for treating prostate cancer.
Mr. Bailey has a track record of delivering compelling business performance based on building and leading teams in both mature and early stage organizations. Most recently, he was the Chairman and CEO of Neurovance, leading its acquisition by Otsuka earlier this year. Previously, he served as President and CEO of Lantheus Medical Imaging Inc., leading the company to a successful IPO. He also served as COO of Fougera Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Novartis), Chief Commercial Officer for King Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer), and held earlier executive positions at Novartis Pharmaceuticals as well as at Johnson and Johnson (including Janssen Pharmaceuticals). Mr. Bailey recently served on the board of Landauer, Inc. (NYSE – LDR) up through their acquisition by Fortive in September of this year. Mr. Bailey earned a business degree from Rutgers University.
“Jeff’s strong pharma background and diverse corporate governance experience will be invaluable as we advance our pipeline of immune-activating therapies for men with all stages of prostate cancer,” said Richard R. Lesniewski, PhD, President and CEO of MVI. “Jeff has had direct accountability for operational and commercial execution within major organizations, and has led multiple successful business transitions, spanning partnerships, IPO’s, and company acquisitions. We are eager to leverage his deep leadership experience across this entire business spectrum to help ensure MVI’s future success.”
Although commonly referred to as “vaccines,” MVI-816 and MVI-118 are actually forms of gene-based immunotherapy. They are taken up by cells to stimulate specific immune responses using the body’s natural mechanisms to fight the cancer. MVI-118, targeting the androgen receptor, is being explored in metastatic prostate cancer to prolong disease control in men beginning Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT). MVI-816 is in a Phase 2 trial in non-metastatic disease to determine its effectiveness in delaying or preventing metastases, and possibly delaying the initiation of hormone deprivation therapy.
MVI-816 is also being tested in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor, Keytruda® (pembrolizumab). The goal is to bring the full potential of immunotherapy to men with metastatic, castrate-resistant prostate cancer. Based on early signals in this clinical trial, including PSA declines, tumor regressions, and detection of vaccine-induced T-cells observed by 12 weeks, an expanded trial was announced in August, and has already enrolled multiple patients who will be offered the combination regimen for a year.
MVI’s new board member Jeff Bailey commented, “Nearly three million men are living with prostate cancer in the United States today. MVI’s innovative trials are among the first to combine DNA vaccines with checkpoint inhibitors and to observe early positive clinical signals in metastatic prostate cancer. As the field endeavors to identify meaningful combinations that will ensure the efficacy of immunotherapies such as checkpoint inhibitors reach greater numbers of patients, including men with prostate cancer, MVI is well-positioned to be a compelling partner in this effort.”
Both MVI-816 and MVI-118 were developed in the laboratories of Douglas McNeel, MD, PhD, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and exclusively licensed to MVI by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF). Dr. McNeel is Professor of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and Chief Scientific Founder and Chief Medical Officer of MVI. Dr. McNeel recently received a new award from the Prostate Cancer Foundation to help enable a second, MVI-816-plus-checkpoint inhibitor combination trial. Read more about Dr. McNeel's award at http://madisonvaccines.com/news.html#a-8-24-17.
