ABLYNX ANNOUNCES INTENTION TO APPOINT THREE NEW DIRECTORS AND ELECT A NEW CHAIRMAN OF ITS BOARD
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
GHENT, Belgium, 7 October 2013 - Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX] today
announced that Dr Peter Fellner, Dr Bo Jesper Hansen[1] and Dr William
Jenkins[2] will be proposed for nomination as Independent Non-Executive
Directors at the Company's forthcoming Extraordinary Meeting of its shareholders
to be held on 7 November 2013.
The Company also indicated that it is then the intention of the Board to
separate the roles of Chairman and CEO. The Board intends to elect Dr Fellner as
Chairman to succeed Dr Moses who will remain Chief Executive Officer. The
Company also announced that it is the intention of Dr Stephen Bunting and Mr
Denis Lucquin to resign from the Ablynx Board.
Commenting on the Board appointments, Dr Edwin Moses, Chairman and CEO of
Ablynx, said:
"The strengthening and evolution of our Board and the splitting of the roles of
Chairman and CEO represent important steps in Ablynx's continuing transformation
into one of Europe's leading biotech companies. We are delighted to have
attracted someone of Peter Fellner's reputation and track record in the
pharmaceutical sector to serve as the new Chairman of our Company. He will be
supported in his new role by the appointments of Bo Jesper Hansen and William
Jenkins. William's strong medical and clinical expertise together with Bo
Jesper's background in business development, medical marketing, orphan diseases
and mergers and acquisitions, will be extremely valuable for Ablynx as we
continue to develop our product pipeline and seek further partnerships with
pharmaceutical partners."
"I have great confidence that the new Board will be instrumental in taking
Ablynx to the next level and continuing to build significant value for our
shareholders. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Stephen and
Denis for their very important contributions as investors and Directors over the
past ten years."
Dr Peter Fellner
Dr Peter Fellner is currently Chairman of the Board of Consort Medical and
Optos. In addition, he serves as Chairman of the biotech companies Vernalis and
Biotie Therapies, and is Vice Chairman of Astex Pharmaceuticals which is being
acquired by Otsuka Pharmaceuticals for $886 million. He is currently a Director
of the global biopharmaceutical company UCB, where he is Chairman of the Science
Committee of the Board, and is a member of the Novo A/S Advisory Group. Dr
Fellner previously served as Chairman of Acambis from 2006 until its acquisition
by Sanofi Aventis in 2008, and of Premier Research Group from 2007 to 2008, when
it was acquired by a private-equity backed group. He also served as Chairman of
Celltech Group from 2003 to July 2004, until its acquisition for ?2.3 billion by
UCB, having been CEO from 1990 onwards during which he oversaw the Company's
growth from a small research-based company to UK's largest biotech company.
Before joining Celltech, he was CEO of Roche UK from 1986 to 1990.
Dr Bo Jesper Hansen
Dr Bo Jesper Hansen, M.D., PhD, currently serves as Executive Chairman of the
Boards of Swedish Orphan Biovitrum and TopoTarget. He is also non-Executive
Director of a number of biotech and pharma companies including Orphazyme, Newron
Pharmaceuticals, CMC AB, Hyperion Therapeutics and Genspera. Dr Hansen served as
CEO and President and as Director to the Board of Swedish Orphan International
until the acquisition of Biovitrum, forming Swedish Orphan Biovitrum. He also
was Non-Executive Director of Gambro until its acquisition by Baxter, and
Zymenex, until its acquisition by Chiesi. He founded Scandinavian Medical
Research during which he served as Medical Advisor for Synthélabo, Pfizer,
Pharmacia and Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical.
Dr William Jenkins
William J. Jenkins, M.D., is Principal of William Jenkins Pharma Consulting and
has been advising a wide range of pharma and biotech companies, and investment
and venture capital firms in the healthcare sector since 1999. Formerly, he was
Head of Worldwide Clinical and Regulatory Affairs for Novartis Pharma and held a
similar position with Glaxo Group Research Limited. He is currently Senior
Independent Director of Consort Medical, an ad hoc member of the Board of Evotec
and a member of the Advisory Board of Chiesi Farmaceutici. In addition, he
serves as Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of Evotec and is a member of
the Scientific Advisory Boards of BB Biotech Ventures II and III funds, and
until recently Nicholas Piramal India.
About Ablynx
Ablynx is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development
of Nanobodies(®), a novel class of therapeutic proteins based on single-domain
antibody fragments, for a range of serious human diseases, including
inflammation, haematology, oncology and pulmonary disease. Today, the Company
has approximately 25 programmes in the pipeline and six Nanobodies at clinical
development stage. Ablynx has ongoing research collaborations and significant
partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies including AbbVie, Boehringer
Ingelheim, Merck & Co, Merck Serono and Novartis. The Company is headquartered
in Ghent, Belgium. More information can be found on www.ablynx.com.
For more information, please contact
Ablynx:
Dr Edwin Moses
Chairman and CEO
t: +32 (0)9 262 00 07
m: +44 (0)7771 954 193 /
+32 (0)473 39 50 68
e: edwin.moses(at)ablynx.com
Marieke Vermeersch
Associate Director Investor Relations
t: +32 (0)9 262 00 82
m: +32 (0)479 49 06 03
e: marieke.vermeersch(at)ablynx.com
Follow us on Twitter (at)AblynxABLX
Ablynx media relations Consilium Strategic Communications:
Mary-Jane Elliott, Amber Bielecka, Lindsey Neville
t: +44 207 920 2345
e: ablynx(at)consilium-comms.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Dr Bo Jesper Hansen will represent OrfaCare Consulting GmbH
[2] Dr William Jenkins will represent William Jenkins Pharma Consulting
Press release in pdf format:
http://hugin.info/137912/R/1733819/580593.pdf
This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of
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(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and
other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and
originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Ablynx via Thomson Reuters ONE
[HUG#1733819]
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 07.10.2013 - 07:31 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 303150
Anzahl Zeichen: 7488
contact information:
Town:
Ghent/Zwijnaarde
Kategorie:
Business News
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