Citius Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a late-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development and commercialization of first-in-class critical care products with a focus on oncology, anti-infective products in adjunct cancer care, unique prescription products, and stem cell therapies, announced that the Board of Directors has approved key management changes to strengthen the Company’s commercial capabilities as its two late Phase 3 programs for I/ONTAK (E7777) and Mino-Lok® near completion. The organizational alignment will enable Citius to focus its resources on advancing both of these near-term opportunities and will be effective as of May 1, 2022.
The Board of Directors has appointed Mr. Holubiak to the newly created position of Executive Vice Chairman with responsibility for building the Citius commercial team and guiding the anticipated product launches of the Company’s first commercial products. Mr. Holubiak will drive the overall commercial strategy in support of the Citius pipeline. The near-term focus will be on the successful launch of I/ONTAK for the systemic treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), which recently released topline results from its Phase 3 trial, and Mino-Lok® which is expected to complete Phase 3 trial enrollment later this year. Leonard Mazur, Citius co-founder and Executive Chairman has been named as CEO and Chairman by the Board of Directors. Additionally, in recognition of the incremental needs of a growing Citius team, Chief Financial Officer Jaime Bartushak will assume additional responsibilities as Chief Business Officer.
“Myron and I co-founded Leonard Meron Biosciences, which ultimately merged with Citius, to bring life-altering therapies to patients in need. He continues to be an outstanding partner and dedicated CEO who, together with me, has driven continued growth in Citius including leading the expansion of our portfolio to five active programs, taking the company public and successfully raising capital to advance our strategy. With a planned BLA submission for I/ONTAK later this year, along with the expected completion of enrollment in the Mino-Lok® trial in 2022, now is the ideal time to reposition the organization to take full advantage of our in-house expertise. We intend to leverage the momentum in our programs to focus on developing robust marketing, sales and distribution capabilities to support successful market entry for the assets in our pipeline. Myron will direct our efforts to build a world-class commercial team as Executive Vice Chairman of the Board,” stated Leonard Mazur, Executive Chairman of Citius.
Mr. Holubiak is uniquely experienced to drive the commercialization strategy for Citius. While President of Roche Laboratories, he led the organization in successfully launching important oncology and antibiotic products including Xeloda® for the treatment of breast and colorectal cancer, and Rocephin®, the most successful injectable cephalosporin antibiotic at the time.