We are thrilled to announce Martha S. Rook’s appointment as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Delcath Systems, Inc., an interventional oncology business that treats primary and metastatic liver tumors.
With over 25 years of academic and professional expertise in molecular biology, diagnostics research, biologics process development, and biologics manufacturing, Martha S. Rook, Ph.D., is a seasoned industry leader. She comes to Delcath from insitro, where she was Chief Technical Operations Officer, in charge of quality control, project and portfolio management, facilities and laboratory operations, and core research services. She worked as Chief Technical Operations Officer at Sigilon Therapeutics prior to joining insitro, where she oversaw the supply chain, manufacturing, analytics, and quality departments for a biologic-device combo product.
Gerard Michel, Chief Executive Officer of Delcath, expressed his excitement in having Martha join the leadership team. Martha is a senior business executive with over 25 years of expertise. Her broad understanding of the commercial, legal, and technological difficulties associated with producing complicated combination goods will be very helpful as we increase the manufacturing of CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO KIT.
In addition, Martha worked for 13 years at MilliporeSigma in a range of capacities. There, she oversaw a team that developed and supplied tools and services for cell and gene therapies from discovery to manufacturing, culminating in her position as vice president and head of the Gene Editing & Novel Modalities Business. Martha earned a B.S. in chemistry from Texas A&M University and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from MIT. As a Lefler Fellow at the Center for Neurologic Diseases at Harvard Medical School, she pursued postdoctoral research in neuroscience.
In compliance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4), the Company issued Ms. Rook an equity award as a major inducement to her employment, which had previously been approved by the Company’s Compensation Committee. Subject to the terms and circumstances of the Company’s 2023 Inducement Plan (“Plan”), the award totaled the right to purchase 125,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. The options are subject to an exercise price equivalent to the closing price of Delcath’s common stock on the grant date, and they were issued on March 18, 2024. Subject to Ms. Rook’s continuous employment with the Company on each of the corresponding vesting dates, the options have a ten-year term and vest ratably over the 36-month period starting on the Grant Date (i.e., 1/36th will vest at the end of each month throughout said 36-month period).
The interventional oncology business Delcath Systems, Inc. specializes in treating primary and metastatic liver tumors. The Company’s proprietary products, CHEMOSAT Hepatic Delivery System for Melphalan percutaneous hepatic perfusion (PHP), designated under the medical device regulation for use in Europe and the United Kingdom, and HEPZATO KITTM (melphalan for Injection/Hepatic Delivery System), approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the United States, are made to deliver high-dose chemotherapy to the liver during a PHP procedure while limiting systemic exposure and related side effects.
