Provectus Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE MKT: PVCT) announced today
several leadership changes following the resignation of one of its
Co-Founders and its Chairman and CEO, H. Craig Dees, PhD.
The Provectus Board of Directors accepted the resignation of Dr. Dees,
which he submitted due to personal and health reasons, in a telephonic
Board meeting over the weekend. Alfred E. Smith, IV, lead independent
director, was selected to replace Dr. Dees as Board Chairman. Peter R.
Culpepper, current Provectus CFO and COO, was named Interim CEO. Eric
Wachter, current Provectus CTO, also was added to the Board to fill Dr.
Dees’ vacancy.
"I look forward to working with our Board and our many consultants and
corporate partners to continue our clinical development for the benefit
of patients and stockholders alike,” Interim CEO Culpepper said.
The Board also formed a Search Committee, to be chaired by Board
Chairman Smith, to immediately begin work to identify a permanent CEO.
Smith commended Dr. Dees’ role in the company’s history and development
of PV-10, the company’s novel investigational drug for cancer, and
PH-10, the company’s topical investigational drug for dermatology.
“We wish Craig the very best,” said Smith. “He has helped bring us to
this stage of the company’s development. We are optimistic about the
company’s current position and confident that the team which Craig
helped build will continue his work.”
The Board added that in this transition it has designated the company’s
Audit Committee to review a number of company procedures, policies and
practices, including executive compensation and expenses. Smith said
results of that review will be released when completed.
A Reuters article featured by Fortune last week said that
Provectus’ PV-10, “stands out for its simplicity” as a possible new
cancer treatment. Dees, a former scientist at Oak Ridge National
Laboratory (ORNL), founded Provectus in 2002 and located its
headquarters near ORNL in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Provectus will hold a conference call for stockholders and the market on
Tuesday, March 1, 2016 at 4:00 p.m. (EST) to discuss these leadership
changes and answer questions from investors. Call-in information will be
made public later today.
About Provectus Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.
Provectus Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., specializes in developing oncology
and dermatology therapies. PV-10, its novel investigational drug for
cancer, is designed for injection into solid tumors (intralesional
administration), thereby reducing potential for systemic side effects.
Its oncology focus is on melanoma, breast cancer and cancers of the
liver. The Company has received orphan drug designations from the FDA
for its melanoma and hepatocellular carcinoma indications. PH-10, its
topical investigational drug for dermatology, is undergoing clinical
testing for psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. Provectus has completed
Phase 2 trials of PV-10 as a therapy for metastatic melanoma, and of
PH-10 as a topical treatment for atopic dermatitis and psoriasis.
Information about these and the Company's other clinical trials can be
found at the NIH registry, www.clinicaltrials.gov.
For additional information about Provectus, please visit the Company's
website at www.pvct.com
or contact Porter, LeVay & Rose, Inc
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This release contains "forward-looking
statements" as defined under U.S. federal securities laws. These
statements reflect management's current knowledge, assumptions, beliefs,
estimates, and expectations and express management's current views of
future performance, results, and trends and may be identified by their
use of terms such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate,"
"expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "project," "will," and
other similar terms. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number
of risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to
materially differ from those described in the forward-looking
statements. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements. Such statements are made as of the date hereof, and we
undertake no obligation to update such statements after this date.
Risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to
materially differ from those described in forward-looking statements
include those discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (including those described in Item 1A of our Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014) and the following:
• our determination, based on guidance from the FDA, whether to proceed
with or without a partner with the fully enrolled phase 3 trial of PV-10
to treat locally advanced cutaneous melanoma and the costs associated
with such a trial if it is necessary to complete (versus interim data
alone);
• our determination whether to license PV-10, our investigational drug
product for melanoma and other solid tumors such as cancers of the
liver, if such licensure is appropriate considering the timing and
structure of such a license, or to commercialize PV-10 on our own to
treat melanoma and other solid tumors such as cancers of the liver;
• our ability to license PH-10, our investigational drug product for
dermatology, on the basis of our phase 2 atopic dermatitis and psoriasis
results, which are in the process of being further developed in
conjunction with mechanism of action studies; and
• our ability to raise additional capital if we determine to
commercialize PV-10 and/or PH-10 on our own, although our expectation is
to be acquired by a prospective pharmaceutical or biotech concern prior
to commercialization.
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