CTI BioPharma Corp. appoints James K. Fong as senior vice president and chief commercial officer

CTI BioPharma Corp. is a commercial biopharmaceutical company. It is focused on the acquisition, development and commercialization of targeted therapies for blood-related cancers. Its commercially approved product, VONJO (pacritinib), is an oral kinase inhibitor with specificity for JAK2, mutant JAK2 form, IRAK1, ACVR1 (ALK2) and FLT3 for the treatment of adult patients with intermediate or high-risk primary or secondary (post-polycythemia vera or post-essential thrombocythemia) myelofibrosis. It is conducting the Phase III PACIFICA study of pacritinib in patients with myelofibrosis and severe thrombocytopenia as a post-marketing requirement. In addition to myelofibrosis, the kinase profile of pacritinib suggests its potential therapeutic utility in conditions, such as acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, graft versus host disease (GvHD) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) due to its inhibition of JAK2, IRAK1, FLT3, ACVR1 and CSF1R.