Celsion Awarded Therapeutic Discovery Project Grant From US Government Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Program
Grant provides additional funding for ThermoDox® development programs
COLUMBIA, Md., Nov. 2, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Celsion Corporation (Nasdaq: CLSN) today announced that the company has been awarded a $244,000 grant under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) program under The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA). This maximum grant amount for a single program was awarded to Celsion for its Thermodox® clinical development program, which is currently conducting clinical trials for primary liver cancer and recurrent chest wall breast cancer. The funds will be used for development expenses.
"We are very pleased to be a QTDP grant recipient, and be recognized by the U.S. Government for investment in the ThermoDox® oncology program," stated Mr. Michael H. Tardugno, Celsion's President and Chief Executive Officer. "The investments we have made to date will not only benefit cancer patients, but eventually create value-added jobs in the United States of America. Investing in the biopharma industry is vital to our economy."
QTDP Program
Included as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, the QTDP program provides a tax credit to encourage investments in new therapies to prevent, diagnose, or treat acute and chronic diseases. Companies such as Celsion that cannot currently use a tax credit were allowed to apply for a cash grant in lieu of a tax credit.
To be eligible for the program, projects must show reasonable potential to result in new therapies to treat areas of unmet medical need; prevent, detect, or treat chronic or acute disease and conditions; reduce long-term health care costs in the United States; or significantly advance the goal of curing cancer within a 30-year period. In addition, preference was given to projects that showed the greatest potential to create and sustain (directly or indirectly) high quality, high-paying jobs in the United States, and advance United States competitiveness in the fields of life, biological, and medical sciences. Projects were selected jointly by the Treasury Department and the Department of Health and Human Services.
About ThermoDox® and the Phase III HEAT Study
ThermoDox® is a proprietary heat-activated liposomal encapsulation of doxorubicin, an approved and frequently used oncology drug for the treatment of a wide range of cancers. In the HEAT study, ThermoDox is administered intravenously in combination with RFA. A thermal zone created by the RFA releases the entrapped doxorubicin from the liposome. This delivery technology enables high concentrations of doxorubicin to be deposited preferentially at the targeted tumor.
For primary liver cancer, ThermoDox® is being evaluated in a 600 patient global Phase III study at 75 clinical sites under an FDA Special Protocol Assessment. The study is designed to evaluate the efficacy of ThermoDox in combination with RFA when compared to patients who receive RFA alone as the control. The primary endpoint for the study is progression-free survival (PFS) with a secondary confirmatory endpoint of overall survival. A pre-planned, interim efficacy analysis will be performed by an independent Data Monitoring Committee when enrollment in the trial is complete and 50 percent of the PFS events are realized in the study population. Additional information on the Company's ThermoDox® clinical studies may be found at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov.
About Primary Liver Cancer
Primary liver cancer is one of the most deadly forms of cancer and ranks as the fifth most common solid tumor cancer. The incidence of primary liver cancer is approximately 20,000 cases per year in the United States and has a worldwide incidence of approximately 650,000 cases, due to the high prevalence of Hepatitis B and C in developing countries. The standard first line treatment for liver cancer is surgical resection of the tumor; however 80% to 90% of patients are ineligible for surgery. Radio frequency ablation (RFA) has increasingly become the standard of care for non-resectable liver tumors, but the treatment becomes less effective for larger tumors. There are few non-surgical therapeutic treatment options available as radiation therapy and chemotherapy are largely ineffective in the treatment of primary liver cancer.
About Celsion
Celsion is a leading oncology company dedicated to the development and commercialization of innovative cancer drugs including tumor-targeting treatments using focused heat energy in combination with heat-activated drug delivery systems. Celsion has research, license, or commercialization agreements with leading institutions such as the National Institutes of Health, Duke University Medical Center, University of Hong Kong, Cleveland Clinic, and the North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System. For more information on Celsion, visit our website: http://www.celsion.com.
Celsion wishes to inform readers that forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, unforeseen changes in the course of research and development activities and in clinical trials by others; possible acquisitions of other technologies, assets or businesses; possible actions by customers, suppliers, competitors, regulatory authorities; and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Investor Contact |
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Marcy Nanus |
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The Trout Group |
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646-378-2927, [email protected] |
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SOURCE Celsion Corporation
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