PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Advaxis, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADXS), a late-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of immunotherapy products, today announced Andres A. Gutierrez, M.D., Ph.D. has been named Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer, effective April 23, 2018.

Dr. Gutierrez will be responsible for all global clinical development and regulatory initiatives for Advaxis' novel Lm-based antigen delivery platform. He has more than 25 years of experience in clinical oncology and drug development and joins Advaxis from Oncolytics Biotech, Inc., where he served as Chief Medical Officer. Prior to Oncolytics, Dr. Gutierrez was Chief Medical Officer at SELLAS Life Sciences Group and was Medical Director, Early Development Immuno-Oncology at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he oversaw the development of translational and clinical development of immuno-oncology programs in solid tumors and hematological malignancies. Earlier, Dr. Gutierrez was Medical Director for several biotechnology companies including Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Proteolix and Oculus Innovative Sciences, leading key programs with talazoparib and carfilzomib, among others. Prior to Oculus, he served as Director of the Gene & Cell Therapy Unit at the National Institutes of Health in Mexico City and as a consultant physician at the Hospital Angeles del Pedregal.

"We are delighted to welcome Dr. Gutierrez to Advaxis and are confident he will be a valuable addition to our executive team. He is an accomplished leader and physician with a track record of success in developing novel oncology drugs, putting patients first and delivering results," said Dr. Sidransky. "Dr. Gutierrez has played a key role in the advancement of clinical trials in all stages of development, through to drug approvals. We look forward to benefitting from his expertise in oncology drug development as he leads the clinical development of our immune-oncology platform."

"I am excited to be joining Advaxis at this important time in the company's evolution with multiple clinical programs planned and underway, and look forward to contributing to the impressive progress made to date by the Advaxis team in advancing its innovative Lm-based antigen delivery technology across a number of important cancer indications," said Dr. Gutierrez. "Advaxis has a promising future as we continue to accelerate the development of our pipeline and bring innovative new medicines to patients."

Dr. Gutierrez received his M.D. and a Ph.D. in biomedical science from the National University of Mexico, with board certification in internal medicine and a fellowship in clinical oncology at the Hammersmith Hospital in London. He has presented clinical data at more than 85 scientific and medical meetings, has written numerous peer-reviewed articles, is a contributing author on nine medical textbooks and is named on 20 patents relating to drug development.