Lota S. Zoth joins NewLink's Board of Directors; heads Audit
Committee
AMES, Iowa, Nov. 7, 2012
/PRNewswire/ -- NewLink Genetics Corporation (NASDAQ: NLNK), a
biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and
commercializing cancer therapeutics, today announced that Lota S.
Zoth has accepted appointment to its Board of Directors and will
act as Chair of its Audit Committee.
Ms. Zoth was Chief Financial Officer at MedImmune, Inc at the
time the company was sold to AstraZeneca in 2007. Over her
30-year career, she held a number of senior financial positions at
MedImmune, and other publicly-traded companies, including Marriott
International, PepsiCo Inc., Sodexo (formerly Sodexho Marriott) and
PSINet. Ms. Zoth, a certified public accountant, began her
career as an auditor at Ernst & Young, LLP. Currently,
she serves as a board member and audit committee chair
on several public, private and non-profit boards.
"We are very pleased to bring Lota's insights to NewLink's Board
as we continue to advance our promising drug candidates through
clinical trials," commented Dr. Charles
Link, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NewLink. "The
first-hand experiences she has as an executive and board member in
the biopharmaceutical industry will be very valuable to NewLink as
we grow our company."
"In addition, as previously announced, two of NewLink's long
serving Board members, David J.
Lundquist and Sarah
Alexander, did not stand for reelection at our recent
shareholder's meeting," said Dr. Link. "We appreciate Dave
and Sarah's thoughtful advice and counsel as we grew from a small
private research based company to a public company well into Phase
3 pivotal clinical trials."
About NewLink Genetics Corporation
NewLink Genetics Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company
focused on discovering, developing and commercializing novel
immunotherapeutic products to improve treatment options for cancer
patients. NewLink's portfolio includes biologic and small-molecule
immunotherapy product candidates intended to treat a wide range of
oncology indications. NewLink's product candidates are designed to
harness multiple components of the immune system to combat cancer
without significant incremental toxicity, either as a monotherapy
or in combination with other treatment regimens. NewLink's lead
product candidate, algenpatucel-L (HyperAcute®
Pancreas) is being studied in a Phase 3 clinical trial in
surgically resected pancreatic cancer patients (under a Special
Protocol Assessment with the U.S. FDA) as well as in a separate
study in locally advanced pancreatic cancer patients. NewLink has
recently launched an adaptive design Phase 2B/3 clinical trial of
tergenpumatucel-L (HyperAcute Lung) in patients with non-small cell
lung cancer. NewLink is developing indoximod (d-1-methyltryptophan,
or D-1MT), a small-molecule, orally bioavailable product candidate
from NewLink's proprietary indoleamine-(2, 3)-dioxygenase, or IDO,
pathway inhibitor technology. NewLink is studying indoximod in
various chemotherapy and immunotherapy combination studies
independently and in collaboration with the National Cancer
Institute. For more information please visit http://www.linkp.com.
Patient information is available at
http://www.pancreaticcancer-clinicaltrials.com.
Contact:
Gordon Link
Chief Financial Officer
515-598-2925
glink@linkp.com
SOURCE NewLink Genetics Corporation