Business
Biomira appoints industry veteran as Chief Operating Officer
Biomira appoints industry veteran as Chief Operating Officer.
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[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\nEDMONTON, July 17 /CNW/ - Biomira Inc. (Nasdaq: BIOM) (TSX: BRA) today\nannounced the appointment of Gary Christianson to the newly created position\nof Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Christianson brings to Biomira more than 20\nyears of operational expertise in diverse areas, including technical\ndevelopment, manufacturing of pharmaceutical products, facilities design and\nmanagement, and personnel development.\n\n\n"Gary's extensive operational expertise will be an important asset as we\nwork to realize the potential of our expanding pipeline," said Dr. Robert L.\nKirkman, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Biomira. "Biomira is\nresponsible for all manufacturing activities for our Phase 3 vaccine, \nStimuvax(R), including process scale-up for commercialization, and Gary has\nthe background to lead this effort. With PX-12 in Phase 2, PX-478 expected to\nenter Phase 1 this quarter, and an Investigational New Drug application\nplanned for PX-866 by year's end, there are also multiple technical\ndevelopment and manufacturing activities for our small molecule pipeline. In\naddition, I expect that Gary will play a significant role in developing\nstrategies to integrate our multi-site activities and to maximize our\nefficiency, productivity and capabilities. We are pleased to welcome him to\nthe Biomira team."\n\n\nMr. Christianson said, "I am very excited to join Biomira and believe\nthat its development pipeline holds numerous opportunities to make a\ndifference in the lives of cancer patients. I look forward to working with the\nrest of the Biomira management team to create value for patients and for the\nCompany's investors."\n\n\nMr. Christianson was, most recently, Site Director for GlaxoSmithKline's\n(GSK) Biologics Unit in Hamilton, Montana. In this position, he oversaw\nstaffing and planning for a 250-person facility that manufactured a key\ncomponent of several GSK vaccines. Previously, he spent six years as Vice\nPresident, Technical Operations at Corixa Corp., including two years as a\nGeneral Manager. In addition to facility and personnel responsibilities at\nCorixa, Mr. Christianson also oversaw production of Bexxar(R) (Tositumomab and\nIodine I 131 Tositumomab), an approved cancer therapy. From 1987 to 1999, Mr.\nChristianson held positions of increasing responsibility at...