NEW YORK, Oct. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Delcath Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: DCTH), a medical technology company testing its proprietary treatment method for primary and metastatic cancers to the liver, completed the expansion of its executive management team with three new hires. Armand "Chuck" Frigon will join Delcath as Vice President for Operations on November 2, 2009; Agustin Gago will join as Executive Vice President for Global Sales and Marketing, also on November 2; and John Purpura will join as Executive Vice President for Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance on November 16, 2009. These are all new positions.
"With enrollment in our Phase III study of the Delcath PHP System(TM) for the regional delivery of melphalan to the liver now complete, we are focused on preparing for FDA submission in 2010, international licensing and manufacturing," said Eamonn Hobbs, President and CEO of Delcath. "We have brought on three exceptional executives to lead our efforts in these areas and deliver the additional skills and experience we need in executive management to transition from an R&D to a commercial enterprise. We look forward to working side-by-side with Chuck, Agustin and John to generate still greater momentum in our business."
John Purpura, 48, was most recently with E-Z-EM as Vice President and then Executive Director of International Regulatory Affairs from 2007 to 2008, and Head of Regulatory Affairs for North America and Latin America from 2008 to the present. Prior to E-Z-EM, Mr. Purpura had an 11-year career with Sanofi-Aventis in progressively more senior regulatory CMC responsibilities, ultimately serving as Associate Vice President for Regulatory CMC from 2005 to 2007. Prior to Sanofi, Mr. Purpura held various quality and regulatory management roles with Bolar Pharmaceuticals, Luitpold Pharmaceuticals, and Eon Labs Manufacturing from 1985 to 1995. He earned a MS in Management & Policy and BS degrees in Chemistry and Biology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Before joining Delcath, Agustin Gago had been Vice President for International Oncology Surgery Sales at AngioDynamics, Inc since 2008. Prior to AngioDynamics, he was Vice President for the Global GI Business Unit at E-Z-EM from 2002 and Vice President of International Operations from 1998. He earned his BS in Business Management at Hofstra University and diplomas in International and Export Practices at universities overseas.
Armand Frigon is known as Chuck. He has been general manager of Sterigenics International since 2007. Prior to Sterigenics, Mr. Frigon was with Tyco Healthcare since 1988 as materials manager in its disposable medical device unit. He was Production and Inventory Control Manager and Senior Industrial Engineer at Mallinkrodt Anesthesia Products from 1983 to 1988 and Production Manager, Plant Engineering Manager, and Plant Industrial Engineer at CR Bard from 1979 to 1982. He earned a BA in Operations Management from Excelsior College.
Delcath also recently announced the additions of David McDonald as Chief Financial Officer and Dr. Krishna Kandarpa as Chief Medical Officer and EVP of Research and Development.
About Delcath Systems, Inc.
Delcath Systems, Inc. is a medical device company specializing in cancer treatment. The Company is testing a proprietary, patented drug delivery system for the treatment of liver cancers. Delcath's novel drug delivery platform is testing the delivery of ultra-high doses of anti-cancer drugs to the liver while preventing these high doses of drug from entering the patient's bloodstream. The Company maintains a broad intellectual property portfolio on a worldwide basis including the U.S., Europe, Asia and Canada. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.delcath.com.
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a safe harbor for forward-looking statements made by the Company or on its behalf. This news release contains forward-looking statements, which are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that can cause actual results to differ materially from those described. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to, uncertainties relating to our ability to successfully complete clinical trials and secure regulatory approval of our current or future drug-delivery system and uncertainties regarding our ability to obtain financial and other resources for any research, development and commercialization activities. These factors, and others, are discussed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they are made.
SOURCE Delcath Systems, Inc.
