BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ - September 16, 2005 -
Genta Incorporated (NASDAQ: GNTA) announced today the appointment
of Mr. Martin Driscoll and Mr. Christopher Parios to the Company's
Board of Directors. Both Mr. Driscoll and Mr. Parios bring strong
skills and extensive experience in pharmaceutical marketing,
promotion, sales, business development and alliance management.
Biographical sketches on both appointees appear below. In addition,
the Company announced the resignation of Mr. Michael Weiss from the
Board.
"Mr. Driscoll and Mr. Parios are accomplished industry
professionals in a number of areas that will be critical for
Genta's growth and success in the near future, particularly as we
seek to re-establish alliances related to Genasense and our U.S.
sales and marketing infrastructure," commented Dr. Raymond P.
Warrell, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Genta. "We
also extend the Board's thanks as well as my personal gratitude to
Mike Weiss for his 8 years of leadership, contributions, and
counsel to our Company."
Christopher Parios
Mr. Parios has more than thirty-five years of pharmaceutical
industry experience, including product development, marketing and
promotion, strategy and tactic development, and managing
pharmaco-economic and reimbursement issues. He has worked with many
of the major companies in the pharmaceutical industry including
Hoffmann-LaRoche, Ortho-McNeil, Pfizer, Novartis, Schering Plough,
Janssen, Ortho Biotech, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Mr. Parios is
currently Executive Director of The Dominion Group, an independent
healthcare consulting firm that specializes in market research,
strategic planning, and competitive intelligence monitoring. In
this role, he is responsible for the full range of market research,
consulting, and business planning activities to facilitate informed
business decisions for clients regarding product development,
acquisitions, product positioning, and promotion. Previously, Mr.
Parios was President and Chief Operating Officer of the Ferguson
Communication Group, as well as Vice Chairman of the parent
company, CommonHealth USA, a leading full-service communications
resource for the healthcare industry. Mr. Parios was a partner in
Pracon, Inc., a health-care marketing consulting firm from 1982 to
1991, and helped engineer the sale of that firm to Reed-Elsevier in
1989. Over a twenty year period, Mr. Parios held progressively
senior positions at Hoffmann-LaRoche, Inc., most recently as
Director of New Product Planning and Regulatory Affairs Management.
This group established the project management system for drug
development at Roche and coordinated developmental activities for
such products as Versed®, Rocephin®, Roferon®, Accutane®, Rimadyl®,
and Tegison®. Mr. Parios was also a member of the corporate team
responsible for domestic and international product and technology
licensing activities.
Martin Driscoll
Mr. Driscoll brings more than twenty-three years of executive
experience in pharmaceutical Marketing & Sales, Business
Development and Operations to the Genta Board. Most recently, Mr.
Driscoll was Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales at
Reliant Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held company that markets a
portfolio of branded pharmaceutical products, where he was a member
of the Management Committee and an Executive Officer of the
Company. From 1983 to 1990, Mr. Driscoll held positions of
increasing responsibility at Schering Plough Corporation, including
most recently as Vice President of Marketing and Sales for
Schering's Primary Care Division. He previously served as Vice
President, Marketing and Sales, for the Schering Diabetes Unit, and
also for Key Pharmaceuticals, the largest Schering U.S. Business
Unit. His experience includes management of franchises that
encompass oncologic, cardiovascular, anti-infective, metabolic,
CNS, pulmonary and dermatologic products. At both Reliant and
Schering, Mr. Driscoll had extensive experience in the negotiation,
implementation and management of collaborations with other
companies. Prior to joining Reliant, from 2000 to 2002 Mr. Driscoll
was Vice President, Commercial Operations and Business Development
at ViroPharma Inc., where he built the first commercial Sales and
Marketing operation, and was the ViroPharma Chair for the
ViroPharma/Aventis Joint Steering Committee for their Phase 3
antiviral product collaboration.
About Genta
Genta Incorporated is a biopharmaceutical company with a
diversified product portfolio that is focused on delivering
innovative products for the treatment of patients with cancer. The
Company's research platform is anchored by two major programs that
center on oligonucleotides (RNA and DNA-based medicines) and small
molecules. Genasense® (oblimersen sodium) Injectio n, the Company's
lead compound from its oligonucleotide program is currently
undergoing late-stage, Phase 3 clinical testing. The leading drug
in Genta's small molecule program is Ganite® (gallium nitrate
injection), which the Company is exclusively marketing in the U.S.
for treatment of patients with cancer-related hypercalcemia that is
resistant to hydration. For more information about Genta, please
visit our website at:
http://www.genta.com/
.
Genta Forward Looking Statement
This press release contains forward- looking statements with
respect to business conducted by Genta Incorporated. By their
nature, forward- looking statements and forecasts involve risks
and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on
circumstances that will occur in the future. There are a number
of factors that could cause actual results and developme nts to
differ materially. For a discussion of those risks and
uncertainties, please see the Company's Annual Report/Form 10-K
for 2004.
This communication shall not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of
these securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation
or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification
under the securities laws of any such state.
SOURCE: Genta Incorporated
