3 December 2018 - - US-based immunotherapeutics developer Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE American: NAVB) has appointed Michael Rosol, PhD as chief medical officer of Navidea, effective 17 December, the company said.

Rosol brings to this position over 10 years of experience in biomedical imaging and commercialization.

Prior to joining Navidea, Rosol served as associate director in the Clinical and Translational Imaging Group at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research from November 2016 to December 2018.

Before that, he held positions as senior director of business development at Elucid Bioimaging, Inc. where he drove adoption of its Computer-Aided Phenotyping applications from May 2016 to November 2016, and as chief scientific officer of MediLumine, Inc. from October 2015 to May 2016.

Prior to those roles, he was the Head of the Translational Imaging Group at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Group from October 2012 to March 2015.

His training and experience lie in the fields of biophysics, physiology, and biological/medical imaging, and his work has focused on cardiovascular imaging, preclinical and clinical imaging instrumentation and applications, animal models of human disease, pathophysiology, biomarkers, and imaging in toxicological and clinical trials.

He has also served as faculty in Radiology and director of two academic research imaging facilities. Dr. Rosol holds a PhD from Boston University School of Medicine.

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of precision immunodiagnostic agents and immunotherapeutics.

The company is developing multiple precision-targeted products based on its Manocept platform to enhance patient care by identifying the sites and pathways of disease and enable better diagnostic accuracy, clinical decision-making, and targeted treatment.

Navidea's Manocept platform is predicated on the ability to specifically target the CD206 mannose receptor expressed on activated macrophages. The Manocept platform serves as the molecular backbone of Tc99m tilmanocept, the first product developed and commercialized by Navidea based on the platform.

The development activities of the Manocept immunotherapeutic platform are being conducted by Navidea in conjunction with its subsidiary, Macrophage Therapeutics, Inc. Navidea's strategy is to deliver superior growth and shareholder return by bringing to market novel products and advancing the company's pipeline through global partnering and commercialisation efforts.