NEW YORK, Jan. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Stemline Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel oncology therapeutics that target cancer stem cells (CSCs), today announced that Eric K. Rowinsky, M.D. will join the Company as Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Research and Development. Dr. Rowinsky will oversee the development and registration efforts for the Company's two clinical stage drug candidates, SL-401 and SL-701, as well as its preclinical pipeline.

"I am very excited to join Stemline at such an important time for the Company," said Dr. Rowinsky. He continued, "Not only is the Company's clinical stage pipeline extremely unique compared to other therapeutics in development, but both SL-401 and SL-701 are demonstrating objective anti-tumor activity in several malignancies that represent important unmet medical needs. I look forward to developing these novel agents to their fullest potential, advancing Stemline's programs towards potential global registration, and, in doing so, hopefully improving the lives of people with a variety of malignancies."

Ivan Bergstein, Stemline's Chief Executive Officer, said, "Dr. Rowinsky brings a wealth of drug development experience to the Stemline team and we look forward to his contribution and leadership in advancing our pipeline forward."

Dr. Rowinsky has more than 25 years of experience managing clinical trials and developing drugs from preclinical to regulatory approval. Among his many endeavors before joining Stemline was that of Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Imclone Systems, Inc., where he led the FDA approval of Erbitux® for head and neck and colorectal cancers, and advanced eight other monoclonal antibodies through clinical development. Before joining Imclone, Dr. Rowinsky was the Director of the Institute of Drug Development ("IDD") at the Cancer Therapy and Research Center. In addition, he held the SBC Endowed Chair for Early Drug Development at the IDD and was a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Prior to the IDD, Dr. Rowinsky was an Associate Professor of Oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He was a longstanding NCI principal investigator on U01 anticancer drug development grants and was integrally involved in pivotal clinical and preclinical investigations which led to the development of paclitaxel, docetaxel, topotecan, irinotecan, erlotinib, gefitinib, and temsirolimus, among others. Dr. Rowinsky is currently an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at New York University School of Medicine and sits on the Board of Directors of a number of public and private biopharmaceutical companies, including Biogen Idec, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB). Dr. Rowinsky received his M.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of California, San Diego and completed his fellowship in medical oncology at Johns Hopkins Oncology Center. He holds a B.A. from New York University.

About Stemline Therapeutics, Inc. 

Stemline Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel oncology therapeutics that target cancer stem cells (CSCs) as well as the tumor bulk. Among Stemline's drug candidates are SL-401 and SL-701, both of which have demonstrated clinical activity including durable complete responses (CRs) and an overall survival (OS) benefit versus historical controls in Phase I/II studies. In a multicenter Phase I/II trial in patients with advanced acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), SL-401 demonstrated single agent activity, including durable CRs, and an OS benefit versus historical data in the most heavily pretreated AML patients. In addition, SL-401 was well-tolerated and was not toxic to the bone marrow. SL-401 is being advanced into later stage trials in advanced AML. The Company's second clinical stage therapeutic, SL-701, has demonstrated single agent activity including durable CRs and partial responses (PRs), as well as an OS improvement compared with historical data, in Phase I/II trials of adult patients with refractory or recurrent high grade glioma and pediatric patients with malignant glioma. SL-701 is now poised for later stage trials in pediatric and adult patients with advanced brain cancer. Stemline is also developing a broad portfolio of preclinical small molecules and antibodies for a variety of solid and hematological cancer types. Many of these compounds have derived from the Company's proprietary discovery platform, StemScreen®. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.stemline.com.  

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements relating to Stemline's business, which are based on the Company's current expectations concerning future developments. These statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Stemline's actual performance to differ materially from the statements in this announcement. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting Stemline will be those the Company has anticipated.

Stemline Contact: 
Mark Jacobson 
Associate Director, Business Development  
Stemline Therapeutics, Inc. 
Tel: 212-584-5747 
Email: mjacobson@stemline.com

SOURCE Stemline Therapeutics, Inc.

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