Callisto Pharmaceuticals Files Suit Against Former Executive Vice President for Breach of Employment Agreement, Fraud, Conversio
08 Junio 2007 - 9:30AM
PR Newswire (US)
NEW YORK, June 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Callisto
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Amex: KAL; FWB: CA4), a biopharmaceutical
company focused on the development of new drugs to treat cancer and
inflammatory diseases, announced today that it has filed a
complaint against Donald Picker, its former Executive Vice
President, Research & Development in the Supreme Court of the
State of New York alleging that (i) Dr. Picker breached his written
employment agreement with Callisto by accepting employment with
Tapestry Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:TPPH) in a manner not in
accordance with his agreement, (ii) Dr. Picker acted fraudulently
by failing to reveal to Callisto that he was negotiating employment
with Tapestry while purportedly representing Callisto in
negotiations with Tapestry pursuant to a confidential disclosure
agreement between Tapestry and Callisto and (iii) Dr. Picker
misappropriated confidential files and materials from Callisto's
offices. Callisto is seeking $80 million in damages from Dr.
Picker. About Callisto Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Callisto is a
biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of new drugs
to treat various forms of cancer and other serious afflictions.
Callisto's drug candidates in development currently include
anti-cancer agents in clinical development, in addition to drugs in
pre-clinical development for other significant health care markets,
including ulcerative colitis. One of the Company's lead drug
candidates, Atiprimod, is in development to treat advanced
carcinoid cancer, a neuroendocrine tumor, and in relapsed or
refractory multiple myeloma, a blood cancer. Atiprimod is currently
in a Phase II clinical trial in advanced carcinoid cancer patients,
and in Phase I/IIa human clinical trials in relapsed or refractory
multiple myeloma patients, respectively. A second anti-cancer drug,
L-Annamycin, is being developed as a treatment for forms of
relapsed or refractory acute leukemia, a currently incurable blood
cancer. L-Annamycin, a new compound from the anthracycline family
of proven anti-cancer drugs, has a novel therapeutic profile,
including activity against resistant diseases and significantly
reduced cardiotoxicity, or damage to the heart, compared to
currently available drug alternatives. Callisto also has drugs in
preclinical development for gastro-intestinal inflammation, and
cancer. Guanilib is the lead candidate of our Guanylate Cyclase
Receptor Agonist (GCRA) platform. Callisto owns worldwide patent
coverage for therapeutic applications of Guanilib in cancer and GI
inflammatory diseases. Guanilib is expected to enter clinical trial
in inflammatory bowel disease in 2008. Callisto has exclusive
worldwide licenses from AnorMED Inc. and M.D. Anderson Cancer
Center to develop, manufacture, use and sell Atiprimod and
L-Annamycin, respectively. Callisto is also listed on the Frankfurt
Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CA4. More information is
available at http://www.callistopharma.com/. Forward-Looking
Statements Certain statements made in this press release are
forward-looking. Such statements are indicated by words such as
"expect," "should," "anticipate" and similar words indicating
uncertainty in facts and figures. Although Callisto believes that
the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are
reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations
reflected in such forward-looking statements will prove to be
correct. As discussed in the Callisto Pharmaceuticals Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, and other
periodic reports, as filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, actual results could differ materially from those
projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of the
following factors, among others: uncertainties associated with
product development, the risk that products that appeared promising
in early clinical trials do not demonstrate efficacy in
larger-scale clinical trials, the risk that Callisto will not
obtain approval to market its products, the risks associated with
dependence upon key personnel and the need for additional
financing. DATASOURCE: Callisto Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CONTACT:
Callisto Pharmaceuticals, Inc., +1-212-297-0010 Web site:
http://www.callistopharma.com/
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