Vermillion Announces Scientific Advisory Board Appointments

FREMONT, Calif., March 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Vermillion, Inc. (VRML.PK) today announced the appointment of its distinguished Scientific Advisory Board to assist in directing the Company's product development strategies. Members of the scientific advisory board are distinguished members of academia and industry with experience in diagnostic test development and commercialization. The SAB will be chaired by Eric Fung, MD, PhD, Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer.

"Our scientific advisory board was instrumental in guiding our research and development leading to the clearance of our OVA1™ test," said Gail S. Page, President and CEO. "We are now poised to advance our other clinical programs in ovarian cancer and peripheral arterial disease. The collective clinical and diagnostic industry experience of our SAB members will help us prioritize these programs, assess biomarker opportunities, and design appropriate clinical studies for regulatory clearance."

The scientific advisory board is composed of the following individuals:

-- Robert C. Bast, Jr., MD, is Vice President for Translational Research and the Harry Carothers Wiess Distinguished University Professor for Cancer Research at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Bast is best known for developing the Ovarian Cancer (OC) 125 monoclonal antibody that led to the production of the CA125 radioimmunoassay. Serum CA125 levels have provided the first generally useful marker for monitoring the course of patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. CA 125 is currently being evaluated as one component of a screening strategy for ovarian cancer. Dr. Bast has published more than 500 articles and chapters, and has edited the textbook Cancer Medicine. He continues to care for patients with breast and ovarian cancer and has been listed in the Best Doctors of America and in America's Top Physicians. Dr. Bast received his B.A. cum laude from Wesleyan University and his M.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School.

--Walter Carney, PhD, is Head of the Oncogene Science organization, which functions as a center of Oncology Excellence for Siemens Dx.  Previously, Dr. Carney was President of Oncogene Science and Corporate Officer for OSI Pharmaceuticals and also held the position of Vice President of Proprietary Drug Development. In addition to being the inventor of the circulating HER-2/neu protein test, Dr Carney has been a leader in integrating the FDA cleared test into the clinical management of women with HER-2 positive breast cancer. Dr Carney was also the first to discover and patent monoclonal antibodies to ras oncoprotein mutations. Dr. Carney has published over 250 articles and abstracts, has been awarded over 25 patents and has numerous pending patent applications. Dr. Carney received his Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases from Thomas Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia, PA.

-- Daniel W. Chan, PhD, DABCC, FACB, is Professor of Pathology, Oncology, Urology and Radiology, Director of Clinical Chemistry Division, Department of Pathology, and the Director, Center for Biomarker Discovery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Chan is an internationally recognized authority in clinical chemistry, proteomics, immunoassay, and biochemical tumor markers. He is particularly well-known as a leader in the concept and methodology of the clinical usefulness of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) as a marker for prostate cancer. He has published over 200 scientific articles, five books on immunoassay automation, endocrinology, and tumor markers. His research has led to major findings showing the importance of analytical methodologies of laboratory testing in diagnosing, managing, and understanding human cancers. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Clinical Proteomics. Dr. Chan received his Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

-- John P. Cooke, MD. PhD, is Professor and Associate Director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute at Stanford University School of Medicine.  He directs a translational program in vascular regeneration. The research group utilizes molecular and cellular strategies to gain new insights into mechanisms of vascular disease, and employs pre-clinical models to test new therapies and diagnostic strategies directed toward peripheral arterial disease.  These insights are applied by the group in clinical studies of patients with intermittent claudication or critical limb ischemia. Dr. Cooke is a founder and Past President of the Society for Vascular Medicine, and an author of over 350 scientific articles in vascular medicine and biology. Dr. Cooke trained in Cardiology and Vascular Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, and was a member of the professoriate at Harvard Medical School before his recruitment to Stanford.

--Gordon Whiteley, PhD. is Director of the Antibody Characterization Lab for SAIC-Frederick, which is part of the Clinical Proteomics Technologies for Cancer Initiative of the National Cancer Institute Director. Prior to coming to SAIC, he was Vice President of Research and Development at PB Diagnostics / Dade-Behring where he was part of the original development team responsible for the development and commercialization of tests for a wide variety of analytes including steroids and hormones, tumor markers, therapeutic drugs, thyroid tests, infectious diseases and fertility markers.  His background includes all phases of diagnostic testing from test conceptualization, feasibility, development, commercialization and test utilization in the clinical setting.  During his more than 25 years in the diagnostics industry he has commercialized over 75 successful products including immunologically based tests and instrumentation through both the FDA and international regulatory agencies worldwide. Dr. Whiteley is a graduate of the University of Toronto with a Ph.D. in microbiology and minors in biochemistry and immunology.

About Vermillion:

Vermillion, Inc. is dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel high-value diagnostic tests that help physicians diagnose, treat and improve outcomes for patients. Vermillion, along with its prestigious scientific collaborators, has diagnostic programs in oncology, hematology, cardiology and women's health. Vermillion is based in Fremont, California. Additional information about Vermillion can be found on the Web at http://www.vermillion.com/

Forward Looking Statement:

Certain matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements that involve significant risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding Vermillion's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. These forward-looking statements are based on Vermillion's current expectations. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for such forward-looking statements. In order to comply with the terms of the safe harbor, Vermillion notes that a variety of factors could cause actual results and experience to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements. There are no guarantees that Vermillion will succeed in its efforts to commercialize ovarian cancer or OVA1(TM) diagnostics products in 2010 or during any other period of time. Factors that could cause actual results to materially differ include but are not limited to: (1) uncertainty in obtaining intellectual property protection for inventions made by Vermillion; (2) unproven ability of Vermillion to develop, and commercialize diagnostic products based on findings from its disease association studies; (3) uncertainty as to whether Vermillion will be able to obtain any required regulatory approval of its future diagnostic products; (4) uncertainty of market acceptance of its OVA1(TM) diagnostic test or future diagnostic products, including the risk that its products will not be competitive with products offered by other companies, or that users will not be entitled to receive adequate reimbursement for its products from third party payers such as private insurance companies and government insurance plans; (5) uncertainty that Vermillion will successfully license or otherwise successfully partner with third parties to commercialize its products; (6) uncertainty whether the trading in Vermillion's stock will become significantly less liquid or Vermillion's ability to relist its shares on the NASDAQ Global Market or on other national securities exchange; and (7) other factors that might be described from time to time in Vermillion's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All information in this press release is as of the date of this report, and Vermillion expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statements to reflect any change in Vermillion's expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, unless required by law.

SOURCE Vermillion, Inc.