Letter from the Executive Chairman of the Board of EntreMed, Inc.
March 27, 2014
To Our Stockholders,
We look forward to meeting you at our 2014 Annual Meeting and
reporting on our progress in developing a leading cross-cultural
biopharmaceutical company with operations both in the US and China.
As part of our Annual Meeting, with your approval, we plan to change
our corporate name to CASI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The new name is in
furtherance of the remaking of EntreMed and reflects our mission to
combat cancer through advanced science and innovation, and also
reflects our integrated development strategy in China and North
America. In conjunction with the name change, we expect that the
common shares of our company will be traded on NASDAQ under a new
ticker symbol, CASI.
To deliver on our mission, we are focused on building a portfolio of
products, and intend to achieve this by (1) continuing to advance
ENMD-2076 in selected cancer indications, (2) in-licensing or
partnering with others as we leverage our expertise in drug
development in China, and (3) internally developing additional drug
candidates focusing on clinically validated targets.
China is a key focus for EntreMed for many reasons. It is the
world’s fastest-growing pharmaceutical market, and is projected to
be the world’s second largest by 2017 with estimated sales of more
than $170 billion. In addition, China’s oncology drug market is
expected to become the world’s largest in the next five to 10 years
as cancer incidence is growing very rapidly. Furthermore, by 2020
universal healthcare coverage is expected to be in place, thereby
providing for pharmaceutical reimbursement for additional patient
populations. Needless to say, the macro environment in China is
extremely attractive for a drug developer. We have strengthened our
team during the past year by hiring talented and experienced staff
with a successful track record of drug development, from early-
through late-stage clinical trials in the U.S. and successful
commercial execution in China.
In-licensing provides an important potential avenue for creating
value and we are actively seeking opportunities in China. We believe
that our Beijing subsidiary is uniquely positioned to capitalize on
these kinds of opportunities by virtue of our scientific expertise and
experience with conducting drug trials there.
We are also working on advancing our product candidate ENMD-2076 in
ongoing trials and are currently enrolling patients. ENMD-2076 is a
novel orally-active, Aurora A/angiogenic kinase inhibitor with potent
activity against Aurora A and multiple tyrosine kinases linked to
cancer and inflammatory diseases. It is in Phase 2 trials in North
America for triple-negative breast cancer, soft tissue sarcoma and
ovarian clear cell carcinoma. We are preparing to enter a Phase 2
trial in China for triple-negative breast cancer, which would build
upon the trials underway in University of Colorado and Indiana
University.
We have worked diligently to reposition the company and to execute a
strategy that holds a great deal of promise for our stockholders,
while potentially meeting the clinical needs of millions of patients.
We are very excited about the future and the direction we have taken.
We look forward to continued execution of our strategic plan and
keeping you apprised of our progress.
Yours truly,
Ken K. Ren
Chief Executive Officer
