Celsion's ThermoDox Plus High Intensity Focused Ultrasound Highlighted at 14th International Symposium on Therapeutic Ultrasound

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J., April 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Celsion Corporation (NASDAQ: CLSN) announced today that data supporting the development of ThermoDox®, its proprietary heat-activated liposomal encapsulation of doxorubicin, plus high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) were presented on April 5, 2014 at the 14th International Symposium on Therapeutic Ultrasound in Las Vegas, Nevada.  In a presentation entitled "Combining Thermosensitive Liposomes with Ultrasound," Mark Dewhirst, D.V.M., Ph.D., the Gustavo S. Montana Professor of Radiation Oncology and Vice Director for Basic Science in the Duke Cancer Institute, presented data demonstrating the potential of ThermoDox plus HIFU to maximize drug delivery to the targeted tumor site.  Celsion is exploring the potential of ThermoDox in combination with HIFU as a non-invasive treatment for a variety of cancers, including pancreatic cancer, Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM), metastatic liver cancer, and breast cancer. Dr. Dewhirst's presentation is available on the Celsion website at www.celsion.com.

"ThermoDox plus HIFU holds tremendous promise as a non-invasive treatment option in indications where conventional treatment is not satisfactory and where failure to control local disease causes morbidity or mortality," stated Dr. Dewhirst. "There are a number of tumor types for which this approach may be appropriate, including cancers of the brain, liver, pancreas or breast, and the data provides a strong rationale for continued development of ThermoDox plus HIFU to further elucidate its potential in these various tumor types."

"Our ThermoDox plus HIFU development programs allow us to leverage the potential of ThermoDox into additional indications beyond our current clinical focus in primary liver cancer and recurrent chest wall breast cancer, and we have formed multiple indication-specific collaborations with leading institutions to support our efforts in this area," stated Michael H. Tardugno, Celsion's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We continue to advance a number of programs using this approach, and look forward to initiating clinical studies of ThermoDox plus HIFU in metastatic liver cancer later this year."

Celsion is currently exploring the potential of ThermoDox in combination with HIFU in a variety of cancer indications:

Metastatic Liver Cancer: Celsion has a collaboration agreement with the University of Oxford to begin an early phase clinical study of ThermoDox plus HIFU in the treatment of metastatic liver cancer. The trial, which is supported by the National Institute for Health Research Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, will be carried out as a multidisciplinary collaboration between Celsion, the Oxford University Institute of Biomedical Engineering and the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust. Enrollment of the first patient in this clinical study is targeted for 2014.

Breast Cancer: Celsion is the key industry sponsor of HIFU CHEM, a clinical program with the University of Utrecht (Netherlands) funded under a $10 million European Cooperative Grant to evaluate the potential of MR-guided HIFU + ThermoDox for the treatment of solid tumor cancers, including breast cancer.

Pancreatic Cancer: With the Focused Ultrasound Foundation, the Celsion is supporting preclinical studies exploring the use of ThermoDox plus HIFU for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM): Celsion recently announced that through a grant, it has funded a program to evaluate the potential of ThermoDox® to treat certain brain cancer tumors, notably Glioblastoma Multiforme or GBM. The grant was provided to Dr. Costas D. Arvanitis at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School and will fund studies using ThermoDox in combination with MR-guided HIFU to treat brain tumors, initially in animal models. 

About Celsion Corporation

Celsion is dedicated to the development and commercialization of innovative cancer drugs, including tumor-targeting treatments using focused heat energy in combination with heat-activated liposomal drug technology.  Celsion has research, license or commercialization agreements with leading institutions, including the National Institutes of Health, Duke University Medical Center, University of Hong Kong, the University of Pisa, the UCLA Department of Medicine, the Kyungpook National University Hospital, the Beijing Cancer Hospital and the University of Oxford.  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; the uncertainties of and difficulties in analyzing interim clinical data, particularly in small subgroups that are not statistically significant; FDA and regulatory uncertainties and risks; the significant expense, time, and risk of failure of conducting clinical trials; HEAT Study data is subject to further verification and review by the HEAT Study Data Management Committee; the need for Celsion to evaluate its future development plans; possible acquisitions or licenses of other technologies, assets or businesses or the possible failure to make such acquisitions or licenses; possible actions by customers, suppliers, competitors, regulatory authorities; and other risks detailed from time to time in the Celsion's periodic reports and prospectuses filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Celsion assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events, new information or otherwise.

Celsion Investor Contact
Jeffrey W. Church
Sr. Vice President and CFO
609-482-2455
[email protected]

SOURCE Celsion Corporation