Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals Announces Appointment of Mark Kirschbaum, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer

BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J., Oct. 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:CYCC, Nasdaq:CYCCP) ("Cyclacel" or the "Company"), a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative medicines based on cancer cell biology, announced the appointment of Mark Kirschbaum, M.D. as Senior Vice President & Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Dr. Kirschbaum is a highly experienced hematologist/oncologist with over 30 years of experience in molecular medicine, new drug development, clinical trial design and patient care. He has management experience in both academic research and clinical and pharmaceutical settings. As CMO, he will be responsible for advancing Cyclacel’s pipeline and will lead clinical strategy, patient safety, and medical affairs.

“We are delighted to welcome Mark to the Cyclacel team,” said Spiro Rombotis, Cyclacel’s President & Chief Executive Officer. “Recent data with fadraciclib, our CDK2/9 inhibitor, and CYC140, our PLK1 inhibitor, support further clinical development of these agents in both liquid and solid cancers. Mark’s extensive hematology and oncology experience in clinical practice, experimental therapeutics and industry drug development will be essential as we advance these and our other clinical development programs with the aim of helping patients with unmet medical needs.”

“Cyclacel’s biomarker-driven approach to drug development has produced a growing and diversified clinical pipeline with the potential to target a broad range of malignancies,” said Dr. Kirschbaum. “I am excited to join the Cyclacel team at this point in its evolution to help build an innovative pipeline addressing the rising problem of cancer resistance and to achieve our clinical milestones.”

Dr. Kirschbaum will report to Spiro Rombotis, President and Chief Executive Officer. He will be based in the Company’s Berkeley Heights, NJ office.

Most recently, Dr. Kirschbaum served as Vice President, Hematology/ Oncology at ArQule Inc., (recently acquired by Merck & Co.) where he managed the development of their BTK inhibitor ARQ531 for hematological indications, including CLL. Prior to ArQule, he was Senior Medical Director with global clinical development responsibilities at Daiichi-Sankyo, Taiho Pharmaceuticals and BeiGene, USA, where he led the clinical development of novel compounds including inhibitors of EZH2/1, HSP-90, HER2/3 and BTK in various solid tumors and hematological malignancies.