ESSA Pharma Inc (NASDAQ: EPIX)( TSX-V: EPI), a pharmaceutical company focused on the developing novel therapies for the treatment of prostate cancer, announced yesterday that it has named Dr Alessandra Cesano, MD, PhD as its chief medical officer.

Cesano has more than 25 years' experience of drug development, regulatory and medical affairs activities. She is a drug development leader with extensive experience in drug discovery and development. She played key roles at Amgen in the approval of Vectibix and Kepivance. Prior to joining ESSA, she was the CMO at NanoString Technologies Inc. She had previously served as the CMO at Cleave Biosciences Inc and CMO and COO at Nodality Inc. Dr Cesano spent 12 years researching tumour immunology, including nine years at the Wistar Institute of the University of Pennsylvania. She also holds memberships in several professional and scientific societies and has been an author of over 100 research publications.

David Parkinson, MD, president & chief executive officer of ESSA, said, 'Dr Cesano is an accomplished drug development executive with an extensive and successful track record of leading drug candidates though development, approval and commercial launch. She also has broad expertise in the development and clinical use of biomarkers for the more efficient development of targeted therapeutics. Her expertise will be instrumental in advancing the clinical development of ESSA's novel N-terminal domain inhibitor of the androgen receptor in men with prostate cancer.'