BURLINGAME, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 3, 2020 / Humanigen, Inc., (OTCQB:HGEN) ("Humanigen"), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on preventing and treating cytokine release syndrome (CRS) with lenzilumab, the company's proprietary Humaneered® anti-human granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) monoclonal antibody, announced the appointment of Timothy E. Morris to the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately, reporting to Dr. Cameron Durrant, Chief Executive Officer.
Mr. Morris has more than two decades of experience serving in executive roles at public biotechnology companies. He most recently served as Chief Financial Officer of Iovance, leading the company's raise of over $1 billion in equity, including a recent $600 million secondary offering. During his career, he has raised more than $2 billion in equity and related offerings, completed over 75 corporate transactions valued in excess of $4 billion, including licensing, mergers and acquisitions, debt offerings and strategic collaborations. In addition to his CFO responsibilities, Mr. Morris will be responsible for manufacturing and supply chain, corporate and business development, investor and public relations and human resources.
Mr. Morris has been a member of the Humanigen Board of Directors since 2016. In connection with this appointment, he has stepped down from his Board position at the company.
"I am honored to join the Humanigen management team and look forward to helping advance our pivotal Phase III clinical trial for lenzilumab in COVID-19 patients as we plan for registration and potential commercialization, as well as continue to accelerate our deep pipeline," stated Mr. Morris.
"We are delighted that Tim has joined our leadership team at such an important time for the company," said Dr. Durrant. "We believe that his track record of accomplishments, combined with his capital markets expertise and extensive knowledge of the company, will be indispensable as Humanigen prepares for its next phase of growth as a potential commercial organization."
About Humanigen, Inc.
Humanigen, Inc. is developing its portfolio of clinical and pre-clinical therapies for the treatment of cancers and infectious diseases via its novel, cutting-edge GM-CSF neutralization and gene-knockout platforms. We believe that our GM-CSF neutralization and gene-editing platform technologies have the potential to reduce the inflammatory cascade associated with coronavirus infection. The company's immediate focus is to prevent or minimize the cytokine release syndrome that precedes severe lung dysfunction and ARDS in serious cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The company is also focused on creating next-generation combinatory gene-edited CAR-T therapies using strategies to improve efficacy while employing GM-CSF gene knockout technologies to control toxicity. In addition, the company is developing its own portfolio of proprietary first-in-class EphA3-CAR-T for various solid cancers and EMR1-CAR-T for various eosinophilic disorders. The company is also exploring the effectiveness of its GM-CSF neutralization technologies (either through the use of lenzilumab as a neutralizing antibody or through GM-CSF gene knockout) in combination with other CAR-T, bispecific or natural killer (NK) T cell engaging immunotherapy treatments to break the efficacy/toxicity linkage, including to prevent and/or treat graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Additionally, Humanigen and Kite, a Gilead Company, are evaluating lenzilumab in combination with Yescarta® (axicabtagene ciloleucel) in patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma in a clinical collaboration. For more information, visit www.humanigen.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current knowledge, assumptions, judgment and expectations regarding future performance or events. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such statements are reasonable, they give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct and you should be aware that actual events or results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Words such as "will," "expect," "intend," "plan," "potential," "possible," "goals," "accelerate," "continue," and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding our expectations for the Phase III study and the potential future development of lenzilumab to minimize or reduce the severity of lung dysfunction associated with severe and critical COVID-19 infections or to be approved by FDA for such use and its potential commercialization, or to help CAR-T reach its full potential or to deliver benefit in preventing GvHD. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the risks inherent in our lack of profitability and need for additional capital to conduct the Phase III study and grow our business; our dependence on partners to further the development of our product candidates; the uncertainties inherent in the development and launch of any new pharmaceutical product; the outcome of pending or future litigation; and the various risks and uncertainties described in the "Risk Factors" sections and elsewhere in the Company's periodic and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary notice. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements made in this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.
CONTACT:
Media
Darcie Robinson
Westwicke, an ICR company
darcie.robinson@icrinc.com
203-919-7905
Investors
Victoria Meissner, MD
Westwicke, an ICR company
victoria.meissner@westwicke.com
646-677-1837
SOURCE: Humanigen, Inc.
View source version on accesswire.com:
https://www.accesswire.com/599940/Timothy-Morris-Joins-Humanigen-as-Chief-Operating-Officer-and-Chief-Financial-Officer
