PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 03, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Advaxis, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADXS), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing cancer immunotherapies, announced that Christopher Duke has joined the Company as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer effective today. Duke, a biotech veteran with more than 20 years of life sciences experience, will lead operations at Advaxis with a focus on overseeing the company’s clinical development programs as well as managing early commercial planning activities.

With the addition of Duke, Executive Vice President Greg Mayes will step into the role of Chief Business Officer where he will continue to expand the company’s focus on identifying and executing on licensing, development, and collaboration opportunities for Advaxis’ Lm Technology™. Mayes will also oversee corporate strategy and lead the re-initiation of a company focus on leveraging the Advaxis technology for infectious disease programs.

Most recently, Duke served as Vice President, Global Commercial Operations at Amicus Therapeutics, Inc. where he played a lead role in the build out of the international business to support the successful launch of Galafold™ (migalastat), which was granted full approval by the European Commission earlier this year to treat patients with Fabry disease. As one of the first employees at Amicus, Duke held numerous leadership roles in program/alliance management, medical affairs and commercial planning over 10 years for multiple products across all stages of development.

In addition, Duke previously served as Executive Director, International Commercial Operations for NPS Pharma where he led several strategic business planning initiatives and helped to establish NPS International to support the ex-US commercialization of Revestive® (teduglutide) and Natpar® (rhPTH[1-84]).

“With experience in driving clinical development programs forward to product launch and managing interactions with the health care community, Chris has demonstrated his capabilities as a milestone-driven leader and will be a strong addition to the Advaxis team,” said Advaxis President and CEO Daniel J. O’Connor.

Duke received his MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, his MPH from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from Rutgers University.

About Advaxis, Inc.

Located in Princeton, N.J., Advaxis, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing multiple cancer immunotherapies based on its proprietary Lm Technology™. The Lm Technology, using bioengineered live attenuated Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) bacteria, is the only known cancer immunotherapy agent shown in preclinical studies to both generate cancer fighting T cells directed against cancer antigens and neutralize Tregs and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) that protect the tumor microenvironment from immunologic attack and contribute to tumor growth. Advaxis' lead Lm Technology immunotherapy, AXAL, targets human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers and is in clinical trials for three potential indications: Phase 3 in invasive cervical cancer, Phase 2 in head and neck cancer, and Phase 2 in anal cancer. The FDA has granted AXAL orphan drug designation for each of these three clinical settings, as well as Fast Track designation for adjuvant therapy for HRLACC patients and a Special Protocol Assessment for the Phase 3 AIM2CERV trial in HRLACC patients. AXAL has also been classified as an advanced therapy medicinal product for the treatment of cervical cancer by the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Advanced Therapies. Advaxis has two additional immunotherapy products: ADXS-PSA in prostate cancer and ADXS-HER2 in HER2 expressing solid tumors, in human clinical development. In addition, Advaxis and Amgen are developing ADXS-NEO, a preclinical investigational cancer immunotherapy treatment designed to activate a patient's immune system to respond against the unique mutations, or neoepitopes, contained in and identified from each individual patient's tumor, with plans to enter the clinic in 2017.

For additional information on Advaxis, visit www.advaxis.com and connect on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook,YouTube and Google+.