SELLAS Names Dragan Cicic, MD, as Senior Vice President, Clinical Development

NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SELLAS Life Sciences Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SLS) (“SELLAS” or the “Company”), a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel cancer immunotherapies for a broad range of cancer indications, today announced that Dragan Cicic, MD, has joined the Company as Senior Vice President, Clinical Development.  Dr. Cicic will oversee the Company’s clinical development activities. He will report directly to Angelos Stergiou, MD, ScD h.c., President and Chief Executive Officer of SELLAS.

“We are pleased to add Dragan’s expertise and experience to SELLAS at this very exciting time for the Company. Dragan’s extensive experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, both in the area of clinical development and especially with hematology-oncology drug candidates, is a perfect fit for us at this time of increased clinical activity for our GPS program, especially as we have just started our registrational Phase 3 study in acute myeloid leukemia. As we continue to progress GPS through clinical development, Dragan’s operational and oncology expertise will undoubtedly be of tremendous value,” said Angelos Stergiou, MD, ScD h.c.

“It is exciting to join SELLAS at such a pivotal point of the Company’s evolution,” said Dr. Cicic. “The earlier results of the GPS studies, across all indications, are extremely encouraging both as a monotherapy as well as in the combination approach with checkpoint blockade.  I look forward to working closely with Angelos and the SELLAS team to advance the GPS program through clinical trials and make this therapy available to patients with limited treatment options.”

Dr. Cicic joins SELLAS as Senior Vice President, Clinical Development. Dr. Cicic has 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry.  Before joining SELLAS, he was a Senior Vice President, Clinical Lead, at Klus Pharma, a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of Kelun, a major China-based multinational pharmaceutical company with about 30,000 employees worldwide.  At Klus Pharma, Dr. Cicic led the global clinical development of targeted solid cancer biologicals and was involved in the development of novel checkpoint inhibitors as well as other innovative biological and small molecule drug candidates. Prior to Klus Pharma, Dr. Cicic held senior management positions at Actinium Pharmaceuticals where he launched key clinical trials, both early and late stage, in hematologic malignancies, primarily in acute myeloid leukemia.  Dr. Cicic also worked with QED Technologies, a consulting company focused on life sciences.  He received his medical degree from the University of Belgrade, and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Cicic also did a Fellowship at Harvard University. Dr. Cicic has published extensively in the fields of hematologic malignancies and solid cancers. He is a member of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). 

About SELLAS Life Sciences Group, Inc.

SELLAS is a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel cancer immunotherapeutics for a broad range of cancer indications. SELLAS’ lead product candidate, GPS, is licensed from MSKCC and targets the WT1 protein, which is present in an array of tumor types. GPS has potential as a monotherapy or in combination to address a broad spectrum of hematologic malignancies and solid tumor indications. SELLAS’ second product candidate, nelipepimut-S (NPS), is a HER2-directed cancer immunotherapy with potential for the treatment of patients with early stage breast cancer with low to intermediate HER2 expression, otherwise known as HER2 1+ or 2+, which includes triple negative breast cancer patients, following standard of care.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts are “forward-looking statements,” including those relating to future events. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “plan,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “project,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “intend,” or “continue” and other words or terms of similar meaning. These statements include, without limitation, statements related to the Company’s plans for further development of and regulatory plans for GPS. These forward-looking statements are based on current plans, objectives, estimates, expectations and intentions, and inherently involve significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with immune-oncology product development and clinical success thereof, and other risks and uncertainties affecting SELLAS and its development programs as set forth under the caption “Risk Factors” in SELLAS’ Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 22, 2019 and in its other SEC filings. Other risks and uncertainties of which SELLAS is not currently aware may also affect SELLAS’ forward-looking statements and may cause actual results and the timing of events to differ materially from those anticipated. The forward-looking statements herein are made only as of the date hereof. SELLAS undertakes no obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, new information, future events, changes in its expectations or other circumstances that exist after the date as of which the forward-looking statements were made.

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