November 3, 2020
Charles J. Fisher, Jr., M.D. has been appointed the new chief executive officer of Aethelon Medical. His appointment became effective on October 30, 2020.
Charles J. Fisher, Jr., M.D. joined Aethlon as a member of Aethlon’s Board of Directors and has served as Chairman of the Board since November 2017. Mr. Ed Broenniman replaced Dr. Fisher as the Chairman of the Board effective as of October 30, 2020. Dr. Fisher brings an impressive record of results in global, strategic and operational roles to Aethlon. Dr. Fisher succeeds Dr. Timothy Rodell, who will serve as a consultant to Aethlon during the transition.
Dr. Fisher’s experience as Head, Section of Critical Care Medicine at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation and his research in sepsis, inflammation, host defense and endothelial dysfunction led to his recruitment to Eli Lilly & Co., where he led the Xigris (activated Protein C) Global Product Team and successfully registered the first drug approved for the treatment of sepsis. Dr. Fisher served as Vice President for Global Pharmaceutical Development at Abbott Laboratories where, among other accomplishments, he guided the registration of Humira.
Dr. Fisher also served as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Cardiome Pharma, where he led multiple clinical trials for Brinavess, resulting to its approval in Europe and a global strategic transaction with Merck and Co. for $800 million US dollars.
Additionally, Dr. Fisher has served as a member of the Defense Science Research Council and on DARPA panels, including one focused on universal host defense. Aethlon’s Board of Directors believes these experiences will enable Dr. Fisher to guide Aethlon’s development and commercialization of the Hemopurifier.
“We are delighted to begin our next chapter at Aethlon with Charles J. Fisher, Jr., M.D. as our CEO,” said Mr. Broenniman, Chairman of Aethlon’s Board of Directors. “Chuck’s depth and breadth of experience in financing, structuring corporate deals, clinical development and regulatory strategy, both in the U.S. and internationally, will be of great value as we prepare Aethlon for the next phase of development.”
“I am both honored and excited to take over this role at Aethlon at this time,” said Dr. Fisher. “I believe the Aethlon Hemopurifier has great potential for treating life-threatening viral infections including Covid-19 and potentially cancer. We are now open to enrolling patients in our first clinical trial in advanced and/or metastatic head and neck cancer at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center in Pittsburgh, PA. Also under an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) we are now opening sites for our trial to treat patients with SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 infection. I look forward to working with the team at Aethlon and its collaborators to continue to advance the science and in an effort to bring important treatments to patients and create value for shareholders.”
“I’m proud to have led Aethlon for the past 2 years”, said Dr. Rodell. “I am pleased to hand the reins to Chuck to lead the next phase of Aethlon’s growth, and I wish him and the leadership team every success.”
Dr. Fisher commented, “On behalf of the Board of Directors, I want to thank Tim for his leadership, commitment and accomplishments as Chief Executive Officer. We wish him continued success in his future endeavors.”