Cellular Dynamics: Names Cameron Szakacs, Ph D. Vice President of Clinical Development

MADISON, Wis., Nov. 25, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cellectar Biosciences,
Inc. (Nasdaq:CLRB), announced the appointment of Cameron Szakacs,
Ph.D., as vice president of clinical development. Dr. Szakacs brings
over 18 years of leadership and experience in the pharmaceutical
industry, including expertise in the strategy, design and execution of
global clinical programs in oncology and orphan indications.



In this newly created position, Dr. Szakacs will report to president
and chief executive officer Dr. Simon Pedder and will be responsible
for guiding Cellectar’s clinical programs, including the ongoing Phase
II imaging trial of I-124-CLR1404 in glioblastoma and planned proof of
concept trials for 1-131-CLR1404 for the treatment of multiple myeloma
and CLR1502 for real time optical imaging in breast cancer surgery.



“Cameron has a proven track record of planning, managing and executing
complex clinical programs in a variety of therapeutic indications and
we are pleased to welcome him to Cellectar as we look to complete three
separate clinical trials next year,” said Dr. Simon Pedder, president
and chief executive officer of Cellectar Biosciences. “We expect
Cameron’s combination of drug development experience, deep scientific
knowledge, regulatory experience and proven leadership capabilities
will be of significant value as we focus on registration enabling
studies for our pipeline of highly-selective, cancer-targeting
diagnostic and therapeutic product candidates.”



Dr. Szakacs’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry includes having
spent five years in clinical research at Hoffmann-La Roche where he
worked on the development of monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of
breast cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In addition, Dr. Szakacs was
a project director at a clinical research organization overseeing
oncology programs. He also designed and developed preclinical
proof-of-concept studies for drug candidates across multiple
therapeutic areas, including oncology, pain, HIV, GI and hemophilia,
for Nektar Therapeutics. Dr. Szakacs was most recently senior director
of drug development at Lundbeck North America following its acquisition
of Chelsea Therapeutics International where he managed Chelsea’s drug
development efforts and served as a senior member of the
interdepartmental team that filed a successful New Drug Application,
secured favorable recommendations from two FDA Advisory Committee
meetings and achieved U.S. marketing approval for Northera, an orphan
drug for the treatment of symptomatic neurogenic orthostatic
hypotension. Dr. Szakacs also taught and conducted research at the
University of Saskatchewan, where he received his Ph.D. in Clinical
Pharmacology.



In connection with the commencement of his employment as Cellectar’s
vice president of clinical development, Dr. Szakacs was granted, as an
inducement award, an option to purchase 50,000 shares of Cellectar
common stock. The stock option has a term of ten years, will vest in
equal quarterly installments over a period of three years, and has an
exercise price of $2.74 per share, which was the closing price of
Cellectar’s common stock on the NASDAQ Capital Market on November 24,
2014.



About Cellectar Biosciences, Inc.



Cellectar Biosciences is developing agents to detect, treat and monitor
a broad spectrum of cancers. Using a novel phospholipid ether analog
(PLE) platform technology as a targeted delivery and retention vehicle,
Cellectar’s compounds are designed to be selectively taken up and
retained in cancer cells including cancer stem cells. With the ability
to attach both imaging and therapeutic agents to its proprietary
delivery platform, Cellectar has developed a portfolio of product
candidates engineered to leverage the unique characteristics of cancer
cells to “find, treat and follow” malignancies in a highly selective
way. I-124-CLR1404 is a small-molecule, broad-spectrum, cancer-targeted
PET imaging agent currently being evaluated in a Phase II glioblastoma
imaging trial. Additionally, multiple investigator-sponsored Phase I/II
clinical trials are ongoing across 11 solid tumor indications.
I-131-CLR1404 is a small-molecule, broad-spectrum, cancer-targeted
molecular radiotherapeutic that delivers cytotoxic radiation directly
and selectively to cancer cells including cancer stem cells. A Phase Ib
dose-escalation trial of I-131-CLR1404 in patients with advanced solid
tumors was completed in the first quarter of 2014 and results presented
at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2014 Annual
Meeting. CLR1502 is a preclinical, cancer-targeted, non-radioactive
optical imaging agent for intraoperative tumor margin illumination and
non-invasive tumor imaging. For additional information please visit
www.cellectar.com



This news release contains forward-looking statements. You can identify
these statements by our use of words such as “may,” “expect,”
“believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “could,” “estimate,” “continue,”
“plans,” or their negatives or cognates. These statements are only
estimates and predictions and are subject to known and unknown risks
and uncertainties that may cause actual future experience and results
to differ materially from the statements made. These statements are
based on our current beliefs and expectations as to such future
outcomes. Drug discovery and development involve a high degree of risk.
Factors that might cause such a material difference include, among
others, uncertainties related to the ability to raise additional
capital, uncertainties related to the ability to attract and retain
partners for our technologies, the identification of lead compounds,
the successful preclinical development thereof, the completion of
clinical trials, the FDA review process and other government
regulation, our pharmaceutical collaborators’ ability to successfully
develop and commercialize drug candidates, competition from other
pharmaceutical companies, product pricing and third-party
reimbursement. A complete description of risks and uncertainties
related to our business is contained in our periodic reports filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission including our Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2013. These forward-looking statements are made
only as of the date hereof, and we disclaim any obligation to update
any such forward-looking statements.


CONTACT: INVESTOR CONTACT

Kate McNeil, Vice President of IR, PR

& Corporate Communications

Cellectar Biosciences, Inc.

Phone: (347) 204-4226

Email: kmcneil@cellectar.com