Candel Therapeutics Appoints Maha Radhakrishnan, M.D., to its Board of Directors
NEEDHAM, Mass., June 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Candel Therapeutics, Inc. (Candel or the Company) (Nasdaq: CADL), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing multimodal biological immunotherapies to help patients fight cancer, today announced the appointment of Maha Radhakrishnan, M.D., to the Company's Board of Directors (Board) effective June 4, 2025.
'We are delighted to welcome Maha as a new member of Candel's Board,' said Paul Peter Tak, M.D., Ph.D., FMedSci, President and Chief Executive Officer of Candel. 'Her extensive industry experience will be extremely valuable as Candel advances its late-stage oncology programs toward potential approval and commercial development, with the aim of providing benefit to patients with significant unmet need.'
Dr. Radhakrishnan brings significant experience in product development and commercialization that will be particularly valuable as Candel prepares for its Biologics License Application (BLA) submission for CAN-2409 in intermediate-to-high-risk prostate cancer, anticipated in Q4 2026.
'I am honored to join the Board at this pivotal moment as Candel advances its innovative immunotherapy candidates across multiple cancer indications,' said Dr. Radhakrishnan. 'Candel's multimodal approach has the potential to address significant unmet needs in cancers that have historically been difficult to treat with conventional immunotherapies.'
Dr. Radhakrishnan has over 20 years of experience advancing large strategic portfolios across various therapeutic areas through product development and commercialization within major biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Since August 2024, Dr. Radhakrishnan has served as an Executive Partner at Sofinnova Investments, a venture capital firm focused on life sciences, where she leads diligence across clinical-ready assets in multiple therapeutic areas and provides expertise to portfolio companies in product development and commercialization. Previously, Dr. Radhakrishnan served as Group Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Biogen Inc. Earlier in her career, she was Senior Vice President and Global Head of Medical, Primary Care Business Unit at Sanofi S.A. Dr. Radhakrishnan has also held leadership roles at Bioverativ, Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, UnitedHealth Group, Inc., and Cephalon, Inc. She received her M.D. with honors from the People's Friendship University in Moscow, Russia.
'Maha's expertise will be invaluable as we look forward to her contributions while we prepare to submit our Biologics License Application for CAN-2409 in intermediate-to-high-risk prostate cancer, anticipated in Q4 2026,' said Paul B. Manning, Chairman of Candel's Board.
About Candel Therapeutics
Candel is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing off-the-shelf multimodal biological immunotherapies that elicit an individualized, systemic anti-tumor immune response to help patients fight cancer. Candel has established two clinical-stage multimodal biological immunotherapy platforms based on novel, genetically modified adenovirus and herpes simplex virus (HSV) gene constructs, respectively. CAN-2409 is the lead product candidate from the adenovirus platform.
The Company recently completed successful phase 2a clinical trials of CAN-2409 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), and a pivotal phase 3 clinical trial of CAN-2409 in localized prostate cancer, conducted under a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). CAN-2409 plus prodrug (valacyclovir) has been granted Fast Track Designation by the FDA for the treatment of PDAC, stage III/IV NSCLC in patients who are resistant to first line PD-(L)1 inhibitor therapy and who do not have activating molecular driver mutations or have progressed on directed molecular therapy and localized primary prostate cancer. The FDA also granted Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) Designation to CAN-2409 for the treatment of newly diagnosed localized prostate cancer in patients with intermediate-to-high-risk disease and Orphan Drug Designation to CAN-2409 for the treatment of PDAC.
CAN-3110 is the lead product candidate from the HSV platform and is currently in an ongoing phase 1b clinical trial in recurrent high-grade glioma (rHGG). Initial results were published in Nature and CAN-3110 received Fast Track Designation and Orphan Drug Designation from the FDA. Finally, Candel's enLIGHTEN™ Discovery Platform is a systematic, iterative HSV-based discovery platform leveraging human biology and advanced analytics to create new viral immunotherapies for solid tumors.
For more information about Candel, visit www.candeltx.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes certain disclosures that contain 'forward-looking statements,' within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including, without limitation, express or implied statements regarding the timing and advancement of current and future development programs; expectations regarding the submission of the Biologics License Application for CAN-2409 in intermediate-to-high-risk localized prostate cancer; and expectations regarding the therapeutic benefit of the Company's platforms. The words 'may,' 'will,' 'could,' 'would,' 'should,' 'expect,' 'plan,' 'anticipate,' 'intend,' 'believe,' 'estimate,' 'predict,' 'project,' 'potential,' 'continue,' 'target' and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and important factors that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, including, without limitation, those risks and uncertainties related to the timing and advancement of development programs; expectations regarding the therapeutic benefit of the Company's programs; that final data from the Company's preclinical studies and completed clinical trials may differ materially from reported interim data from ongoing studies and trials; the Company's ability to efficiently discover and develop product candidates; the Company's ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of product candidates; the Company's ability to maintain its intellectual property; the implementation of the Company's business model, including strategic plans for the Company's business and product candidates; and other risks identified in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, each as filed with the SEC and any subsequent filings with the SEC. The Company cautions you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. The Company disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any such statements to reflect any change in expectations or in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statements may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release represent the Company's views only as of the date hereof and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date.
Investor Contact:
Theodore Jenkins
VP, Investor Relations and Business Development
Candel Therapeutics, Inc.
[email protected]
Media Contact:
Ben Shannon
ICR Healthcare
[email protected]
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
31 minutes ago
- Associated Press
NBA's talks about new league in Europe are continuing, though the process remains in early stages
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The NBA's talks with FIBA and other entities about the process of adding a new league in Europe are continuing, Commissioner Adam Silver said, though he noted that it may take at least a couple more years to turn the ideas into reality. Silver spoke at a league event to unveil a refurbished Boys & Girls Club in Oklahoma City on Friday — an off day for the NBA Finals — and said it's difficult to put a specific timeline on the Europe plans. 'I will say it's measured in years, not months,' Silver said. 'So, we're at least a couple years away from launching. It would be an enormous undertaking. And while we want to move forward at a deliberate pace, we also want to make sure that we're consulting with all the appropriate stakeholders, meaning the existing league, its teams, European players, media companies, marketing partners. There's a lot of work to be done.' Silver and FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis announced in March that the league and the game's governing body are finally taking long-awaited steps to form a new league, with an initial target of 16 teams. It had been talked about for years, and decades even on some levels. And since the NBA and FIBA went public with their idea to move forward, talks have gotten more constructive, Silver said. Silver said the NBA has been talking directly with the EuroLeague and with some member clubs about a partnership. It's his preference that the NBA work with the existing league on some level, though it's still too early to say exactly what that means. 'Either way, we continue to feel there are an enormous number of underserved basketball fans in Europe and that there's a strong opportunity to have another league styled after the NBA,' Silver said. About one in every six current NBA players hails from Europe, including Denver's Nikola Jokic (Serbia) and Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) — who have combined for five of the last seven MVP awards — along with the Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic (Slovenia) and San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama (France). The NBA's board of governors will talk more about next steps with the European plans in July at their scheduled meeting in Las Vegas, Silver said. It's possible that the European venture could be unveiled in some way — or possibly start — around the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, just given how much attention will be on international basketball at that time. 'That might be a good launching pad for an announcement around a new competition,' Silver said. Some of the cities that are expected to have interest in being part of the new venture include London, Manchester, Rome and Munich. There will be others, of course. 'We haven't had direct conversations yet,' Silver said. 'But there have been several organizations that have come forward and said they would be interested and potential owners in operating in those major markets in Europe.' ___ AP NBA:
TechCrunch
35 minutes ago
- TechCrunch
Trump fast-tracks supersonic travel, amid spate of flight-related executive orders
In Brief President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday that directs the Federal Aviation Administration to lift the 52-year ban on supersonic flight over U.S. soil, marking a major policy shift that occurred just weeks after lawmakers introduced bipartisan legislation with the same aim. The order instructs the FAA to end the overland supersonic ban and create noise-based certification standards, allowing faster-than-sound travel as long as no audible sonic boom reaches the ground. 'The reality is that Americans should be able to fly from New York to LA in under four hours,' Michael Kratsios, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, told reporters Friday. The move could help accelerate commercial supersonic flight development, including efforts by Boom Supersonic. In January, Boom's XB-1 demonstrator became the first privately developed civil aircraft to break the sound barrier over the continental U.S. Asked for comment Friday, Boom CEO Blake Scholl wrote 'Booooom!' in an email to TechCrunch. Added Scholl, 'The sound barrier was never physical — it was regulatory. With supersonic legalized, the return of supersonic passenger air travel is just a matter of time.' Trump also signed two other future-of-flight executive orders Friday: one to speed up drone commercialization and electric vertical takeoff vehicle development, and another to establish a federal task force on drone flight restrictions.
Forbes
37 minutes ago
- Forbes
Republicans Like Health Savings Accounts
Should the government allow HSAs to cover gym memberships? Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are a popular and important way many people pay for medical expenses. They are also a great way to save—better, for example, than an IRA or a 401(k) plan. Because of various quirks in the law, HSAs are not available to a large number of people—including people on Medicaid or Medicare and most people who buy their own insurance in the (Obamacare) exchanges. Under the reconciliation bill just passed in the House of Representatives, more people will have access to these accounts and there will be new opportunities to use them. Currently, individuals and their employers can make tax-free deposits to HSAs, provided the individual is also covered by third-party health insurance with a high deductible. Money can accumulate and grow tax-free. After age 65, the money can be withdrawn for non-health expenses without penalty, but it is subject to normal income taxes. As of 2023, there were 37.4 million accounts with $46.4 billion in assets. Industry experts think the House bill will lead to an additional 20 million people with an HSA. Here is a summary of the hits and misses in the Republican bill, as it faces a vote by the Senate. The Good. By far the best feature of the bill is a provision making all bronze and catastrophic insurance plans offered through the (Obamacare) exchanges automatically eligible for an HSA account. This is likely the main reason why the number of HSA accounts is likely to soar. Another provision would allow the use of HSAs to pay monthly fees for direct primary care (DPC). This used to be called 'concierge care' and in the past it was available only to the rich. But the price has come way down. Atlas MD in Wichita, for example, charges $50 a month for a mother and $10 for a child. In return, the family has 24/7 access to a physician's practice that provides all primary care. Often, the family has the doctor's personal phone number. DPC has become increasingly popular, and employers often pay the monthly fee for their employees. Under current law, however, the employer cannot put funds in an HSA account, let the employee choose a DPC doctor and pay that doctor from the account. The House bill will create that opportunity. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the ten-year cost of all of the HSA changes combined is almost $44 billion. Yet the cost of the two best provisions is less than $6 billion. More on that below. The Questionable. The bill allows annual withdrawals of $500 (individuals) or $1,000 (couples) for gym memberships and other physical activities. (No sailing or golfing expenses, however.) The problem is that these are not medical expenses. If we are going to allow gym memberships, why not hundreds of other nonmedical expenses – including sailing and golfing? The CBO says the cost of this provision is $10 billion. The bill also doubles the annual HSA contribution that is allowable for individuals with incomes up to $75,000 and couples who earn up to $150,000. The problem here is that only about one in ten account holders are contributing the maximum allowable right now. At a cost of more than $8 billion this is an expensive change that will only affect a small part of the market. Instead of these questionable measures, the Senate should consider making all Obamacare silver plans (the most popular choice) automatically eligible for an HSA. Missed opportunities. While the House should be congratulated for making many desirable improvements in the HSA law, it unfortunately failed to correct a fundamental flaw: an inflexible across-the-board deductible. Common sense would suggest that different medical expenses need different deductibles. The biggest problem with chronic illness, for example, is noncompliance with a drug regimen. That is why some Medicare Advantage plans make maintenance drugs for chronic patients (such as insulin for diabetics) available for free or at very low cost. In the first Trump administration, an IRS ruling waived the deductible requirement for 14 specific services and medications that serve as treatments for such conditions as diabetes, asthma, heart disease, and depression. This was an executive branch decision to modify existing legislation, however. To make it permanent, Congress needs to codify it. Ideally, Congress should remove the deductible requirement altogether and let the role of deductibles be determined in the marketplace. One way to think about the combination of allowing gym memberships and failing to address the deductible issue is to see that the House risks being accused of creating benefits for the healthy while ignoring the sick. Another missed opportunity was the failure of House Republicans to give 80 million Medicaid enrollees access to what I will call a Roth HSA. Private companies managing Medicaid (or the state itself) should be able to make deposits to an account that would cover, say, all primary care. Enrollees could use the money for health care during an insurance year. Afterward, they could withdraw any unspent funds for any purpose. If there were no taxes or penalties on non-medical withdrawals, health care and non-health care would trade against each other on a level playing field under the tax law. People wouldn't spend a dollar on health care unless they got a dollar's worth of value. An early study by the RAND Corporation suggests that these accounts would reduce Medicaid spending by 30 percent. Aside from payments for the disabled and nursing home care, if Medicaid spending could be reduced by 30 percent, the savings would amount to almost $1 trillion over ten years. This saving would be shared by the beneficiaries and the taxpayers who fund Medicaid.
