Berkeley, CA and Vancouver, BC – Tuesday May 10, 2016 – BriaCell Therapeutics Corp. (“BriaCell” or the “Company”) (TSXV: BCT) (OTCQB: BCTXF) today announced a change to its board of directors.
BriaCell is pleased to welcome the appointment of Mr. Martin Schmieg to its Board of Directors. Mr. Schmieg, with 35 years of business experience, is a “C” level executive with a diversified background in the global biotech, med-tech and pharmaceutical industries. As a hands-on leader, Mr. Schmieg’s early career focused on accounting and financial management responsibilities serving as Chief Financial Officer to privately held Cytometrics, Inc., Advanced Bionics Corporation and publicly traded Sirna Therapeutics, Inc. and Isolagen, Inc. With Cytometrics, he raised $55 million in four rounds of venture capital financing to bring the company’s Cytoscan® instrument to market. With Advanced Bionics, he was the financial architect of the company’s sale to Boston Scientific (BSX) for $4.2 billion. With Sirna Therapeutics and in collaboration with its venture owners, he co-developed the company’s strategic plan which led to the company’s acquisition by Merck & Co for $1.3 billion.
In 2006, Mr. Schmieg assumed the position of Chief Executive Office of Freedom-2, Inc., a venture startup in novel dermatology applications. While at Freedom-2, Mr. Schmieg raised $14 million in venture capital and led the company in the development and market introduction of InfinitInk®, which was a Time Magazine “Invention of the Year” in 2008. In 2009, Mr. Schmieg reversed merged Freedom-2 into Nuvilex, Inc., now PharmaCyte, Inc.
Since 2010, Mr. Schmieg has been providing strategic advisory services to the life sciences industry including engagements with the following companies: NeoStem, Inc. (now Caladrius Biosciences, Inc.), Beckman Coulter Genomics, Calimmune, Inc., Cryoport, Inc., Vetbiologics, a division of U.S. Stem Cell, Inc., Sapientia Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Rokk3r Labs, LLC. Martin holds a BS from LaSalle University, Philadelphia, PA and is a certified public accountant.
Mr. Schmieg’s appointment comes immediately following the resignation of Mr. Isaac Maresky, who has agreed to remain as a consultant for a transition period.
“We are pleased to welcome Mr. Schmieg to our Board,” said Dr. Saeid Babaei, Chairman of BriaCell. “His vast experience in the biotechnology industry and his strategic insights will be important for BriaCell to assist us in successfully reaching our full potential. Also, I would like to thank Mr. Maresky for his dedication to the Company since its inception as a member of our board. Mr. Maresky played a leadership role in key financing efforts as well as the Company’s successful TSX listing. We wish him the best of luck with his other investments and ventures.”
“I am extremely excited to be joining BriaCell’s Board,” noted Mr. Schmieg. “Having been involved with various successful biotech exits, I have become extremely selective when it comes to joining new opportunities. I look forward to supporting BriaCell in these exciting times and to build on the success laid out in a strong clinical and preclinical pipeline and play a major role in establishing strategic partnerships and in-licensing and/or acquisition opportunities.”
ABOUT BRIACELL
BriaCell is an immuno-oncology biotechnology company developing a more targeted, less toxic approach to cancer management. BriaCell’s mission is to serve late-stage cancer patients with no other treatment options.
BriaVax™, the Company’s lead product is a genetically engineered whole-cell vaccine derived from a human breast tumor cell line. This targeted vaccine is believed to generate strong antibody and T-cell responses, which in turn may boost the immune system to recognize and eliminate cancerous cells. The Company has already demonstrated encouraging clinical results, and is intent on building upon these results to further advance BriaVax™ through additional FDA-approved clinical trials in order to help cancer patients with no other options. The results of two previous FDA Phase I clinical trials have been encouraging in terms of both safety and efficacy in patients with advanced solid tumors (17 breast cancer, 1 ovarian cancer). The Company is also developing a companion diagnostic platform known as BriaDX™ order to most effectively select patients who would benefit from BriaVax™.
In some cases, patient survival was three to five times longer than would have been expected. For more information, please visit www.briacell.com
For further information contact:
BriaCell Therapeutics Corp.
Ms. Farrah Dean
Manager, Corporate Development
Phone: 1-888-485-6340
Email: [email protected]
The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the Company has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
Except for the statements of historical fact, this news release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation which involves known and unknown risks relevant to the Company in particular and to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries in general, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectations. These risks are more fully described in the Company’s public filings available at www.sedar.com.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.