CEO Cancer Gold Standard accreditation for Aldagen

Dec 23 2009

Aldagen, Inc. has received CEO Cancer Gold Standard^™ accreditation, recognizing the company’s commitment to taking concrete actions to reduce the cancer risk of its employees and their families through screenings, early detection, and healthy changes in lifestyle and in the workplace.

“do something bold and venturesome about cancer within your own corporate families.”

William C. Weldon, chairman and chief executive officer of Johnson & Johnson, chairs the CEO Roundtable on Cancer, a nonprofit organization of cancer-fighting CEOs who created the CEO Cancer Gold Standard^™, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute, many of its designated cancer centers, and leading health non-profit organizations and professionals.

“We are proud of the leadership that Aldagen’s CEO, Tom Amick, has demonstrated in his commitment to achieving CEO Cancer Gold Standard certification,” said Weldon. “Our Gold Standard recognizes that Aldagen’s work in developing novel biopharmaceuticals to improve health begins with a commitment to provide world-class health and wellness benefits for its employees and their family members.”

The CEO Cancer Gold Standard^™ calls for companies to evaluate their health benefits and corporate culture and take extensive, concrete actions in five key areas of health and wellness to fight cancer in the workplace. To earn Gold Standard accreditation, a company must establish programs to reduce cancer risk by discouraging tobacco use; encouraging physical activity; promoting healthy diet and nutrition; detecting cancer at its earliest stages; and providing access to quality care, including participation in clinical trials. Aldagen is the 44th organization to become Gold Standard accredited. Currently, more than one million lives are covered through Gold Standard employers.

Other organizations joining Aldagen in championing this workplace-based effort to eliminate cancer as a public health threat include: Aetna, the American Cancer Society, the American Legacy Foundation, the American Society of Clincial Oncology, Aptuit, AstraZeneca, C-Change, Cigna, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Duke Medicine, Edelman, Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Fox Chase Cancer Center, GHI (an EmblemHealth company), GlaxoSmithKline, Hogan & Hartson, Independence Blue Cross & Blue Shield, Jenner & Block, Johnson & Johnson, The Lance Armstrong Foundation, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company, Meridian Health, Minot State University, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, The National Cancer Institute, Novartis, The Oncology Nursing Society, OSI Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, PhRMA, PPD, Pride, Inc., Quintiles Transnational, sanofi-aventis, SAS Institute, State Farm, The University of North Dakota, US Oncology, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Virtua Health and The Wistar Institute.