- Seasoned legal and compliance executive brings global product launch, strategic transaction and international operational experience as Candel prepares for its planned Biologics License Application (BLA) submission and potential commercialization
NEEDHAM, Mass., Oct. 22, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Candel Therapeutics, Inc. (Candel or the Company) (Nasdaq: CADL), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing multimodal immunotherapies to improve disease outcomes for patients with cancer, today announced the appointment of Maria Ostrovsky as General Counsel, effective November 3, 2026. Ms. Ostrovsky has 20 years of legal experience, most of it in the life sciences industry. She will oversee Candel’s legal and compliance functions, including corporate governance, and report to Candel’s President and Chief Executive Officer.
Ms. Ostrovsky joins Candel at a pivotal stage in the Company’s evolution, as it advances its clinical pipeline, prepares for a planned BLA submission for aglatimagene besadenovec (aglatimagene) in intermediate- to high-risk localized prostate cancer in the fourth quarter of 2026, and builds the capabilities needed to support potential commercialization, if approved.
“Maria brings a highly relevant combination of legal, compliance, global product launch and strategic transaction experience,” said Paul Peter Tak, MD, PhD, FMedSci, President and Chief Executive Officer of Candel. “She has supported oncology launches in the United States and globally, built a healthcare compliance program at a commercial-stage biotech, and helped guide acquisition diligence, post-merger integration and international operations. As we prepare for our planned BLA submission and potential commercialization of aglatimagene, if approved, Maria will help us build scalable legal, governance and compliance capabilities for Candel’s next stage of growth. I am delighted to welcome her to our leadership team.”
“Candel is at an inflection point, with its first planned BLA submission ahead and a pipeline spanning several difficult-to-treat cancers,” said Maria Ostrovsky. “I am excited to join the leadership team and help establish the legal and compliance foundation needed to support Candel’s continued growth, potential transition toward commercialization and mission to bring new treatment options to patients.”
Ms. Ostrovsky most recently served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Deciphera Pharmaceuticals (Deciphera), where she led the global legal and compliance function, built the company's healthcare compliance program, contributed to two global product launches, supported acquisition diligence and post-merger integration, and oversaw a broad range of strategic and biotechnology transactions. She also built and led a U.S.- and EU-based legal and compliance team. She joined Deciphera in 2019. Before that, she held legal and compliance roles at TESARO, Inc. and at Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (formerly Millennium Pharmaceuticals), where she supported oncology product launches in the United States and globally. Earlier in her career, she was a litigation associate at Cooley LLP and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. Ms. Ostrovsky earned a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a B.A. from Middlebury College.
About aglatimagene besadenovec
Aglatimagene, Candel’s most advanced multimodal biological immunotherapy candidate, is an investigational, off-the-shelf, replication-defective adenovirus designed to deliver the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-tk) gene to a patient’s tumor. After intratumoral administration, HSV-tk enzyme activity results in conversion of prodrug (valacyclovir) into deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-incorporating nucleotide analogs, leading to immunogenic cell death in cells exhibiting DNA damage and proliferating cells, with subsequent release of a variety of tumor (neo)antigens in the tumor microenvironment. At the same time, the adenoviral serotype 5 capsid proteins promote inflammation through the induction of expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and adhesion molecules. Together, this regimen is designed to induce an individualized and specific CD8+ T cell-mediated response against the injected tumor and uninjected distant metastases for broad anti-tumor activity, based on in situ immunization against a variety of tumor antigens. Aglatimagene has the potential to treat a broad range of solid tumors. Encouraging monotherapy activity as well as combination activity with standard of care radiotherapy, surgery, chemotherapy, and immune checkpoint inhibitors have previously been shown in several nonclinical and clinical settings. More than 1,000 patients have been dosed with aglatimagene in clinical trials with a favorable tolerability profile to date, supporting the potential for use with standard of care, when indicated. Aglatimagene is currently not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or any other regulatory authority for any use.
About Candel Therapeutics
Candel is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing off-the-shelf multimodal biological immunotherapies that elicit an individualized, systemic anti-tumor immune response to help patients fight cancer. Candel has established two clinical-stage multimodal biological immunotherapy platforms based on novel, genetically modified adenovirus and herpes simplex virus (HSV) gene constructs, respectively. Aglatimagene besadenovec (aglatimagene) is the lead product candidate from the adenovirus platform. The Company completed successful phase 2a clinical trials of aglatimagene in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), and a pivotal, placebo-controlled, phase 3 clinical trial of aglatimagene in localized prostate cancer, conducted under a Special Protocol Assessment agreed with the FDA and published in The Lancet Oncology. The FDA also granted Fast Track Designation and Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy Designation to aglatimagene for the treatment of newly diagnosed localized prostate cancer in patients with intermediate- to high-risk disease, Fast Track Designation in NSCLC, and both Fast Track Designation and Orphan Drug Designation to aglatimagene for the treatment of PDAC.
Linoserpaturev is the lead product candidate from the HSV platform and is currently in an ongoing phase 1b clinical trial in recurrent high-grade glioma, evaluating the effects of repeat linoserpaturev injections. Initial results were published in Nature and Science Translational Medicine and linoserpaturev received Fast Track Designation and Orphan Drug Designation from the FDA. Finally, Candel’s enLIGHTEN™ Discovery Platform is a systematic, iterative HSV-based discovery platform leveraging human biology and advanced analytics to create new viral immunotherapies for solid tumors.
For more information about Candel, visit: www.candeltx.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes certain disclosures that contain “forward-looking statements,” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including, without limitation, express or implied statements regarding the timing and advancement of current and future development programs; expectations regarding the therapeutic benefit of the Company’s platforms, including the ability of its platforms to improve overall survival and/or disease-free survival of patients living with difficult-to-treat, solid tumors; and expectations regarding the potential benefits conferred by regulatory designations. The words “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “project,” “potential,” “continue,” “target” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and important factors that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, including, without limitation, those risks and uncertainties related to the timing and advancement of development programs; expectations regarding the therapeutic benefit of the Company’s programs; the timing of expected BLA submissions; that final data from the Company’s nonclinical studies and completed clinical trials may differ materially from reported interim data from ongoing studies and trials; the Company’s ability to efficiently discover and develop product candidates; the Company’s ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of product candidates; the Company’s ability to commercialize any approved product candidates; the Company’s ability to maintain its intellectual property; the implementation of the Company’s business model, including strategic plans for the Company’s business and product candidates; the impact of the Company’s existing and any future indebtedness on its ability to operate its business; the Company’s ability to access any future tranches under its debt facility and to comply with all of its obligations thereunder; and other risks identified in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, each as filed with the SEC and any subsequent filings with the SEC. The Company cautions you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. The Company disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any such statements to reflect any change in expectations or in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statements may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release represent the Company’s views only as of the date hereof and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date.
Investor Contact
Theodore Jenkins
Vice President, Investor Relations, and Business Development
Candel Therapeutics, Inc.
tjenkins@candeltx.com
Media Contact
Ben Shannon
ICR Healthcare
CandelPR@icrhealthcare.com
