NEW YORK, April 20, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SELLAS Life Sciences Group Inc., (Nasdaq:SLS) (SELLAS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on novel cancer immunotherapies for a broad range of cancer indications, today announced the appointment of Gene Mack as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer.

“We are delighted to welcome Gene to our executive team. He has a proven track record of leveraging his deep expertise in corporate finance and strategy to help companies develop important therapies for patients and deliver significant value for shareholders,” said Angelos Stergiou, M.D., ScD h.c., President and Chief Executive Officer of SELLAS. “That experience, coupled with his leadership ability, will be of great value to SELLAS as we continue to advance our pipeline of novel cancer immunotherapies and expand our management team.”

Mr. Mack joins SELLAS having served as a consulting chief financial officer for a number of private and publicly traded biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, developing strategy and leading management of all company finance, accounting, and treasury functions, most recently with Nicox, SA. Prior to consulting, Mr. Mack held finance and business development positions at Ascendia Pharmaceuticals and Edge Therapeutics. Over the past 5 years, Mr. Mack has raised over $300 million in equity and debt financing while also advising on numerous successful M&A and product licensing transactions. Mr. Mack also spent over 13 years as a senior publishing analyst in life sciences equity research at Brean Capital, Lazard, and HSBC Capital Markets. Mr. Mack began his career conducting clinical research at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Mr. Mack holds a B.S. in Biochemistry and an M.B.A. in Finance, both from Fordham University.

“With a diverse, late-stage pipeline of immunotherapies, SELLAS has the potential to bring innovative new treatments to patients with life-threatening diseases,” said Mr. Mack. “I am thrilled to join SELLAS’ experienced leadership team and look forward to contributing to the company’s growth at this exciting time.” Interim Chief Financial Officer Aleksey Krylov will remain with SELLAS until July 15th in order to facilitate the transition. “I would like to thank Aleksey for his service as Interim Chief Financial Officer. He has achieved multiple milestones for SELLAS, including the completion of our reverse merger and the closing of our recent strategic financing,” said Dr. Stergiou.

About SELLAS Life Sciences Group: SELLAS is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on novel cancer immunotherapeutics for a broad range of cancer indications. SELLAS’ lead product candidate, galinpepimut-S (GPS), is licensed from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and targets the Wilms Tumor 1 (WT1) protein, which is present in an array of tumor types. GPS has potential as a monotherapy or in combination to address a broad spectrum of hematologic malignancies
and solid tumor indications. SELLAS has Phase 3 clinical trials planned (pending funding availability) for GPS in two indications, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) and is also developing GPS as a potential treatment for multiple myeloma and ovarian cancer. SELLAS plans to study GPS in up to four additional indications. SELLAS has received Orphan Drug designations from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), as well as the European Medicines Agency, for GPS in AML and MPM; GPS also received Fast Track designation for AML and MPM from the FDA.