Pharming's Board of Supervisory Directors nominates new CEO
Dr Pinto to retire after completion of transition period
Leiden, The Netherlands, September 26, 2008. Biotech company
Pharming Group NV ("Pharming" or "the Company") (NYSE Euronext:
PHARM) announced today that the Board of Supervisory Directors (BOSD)
has nominated Dr Sijmen de Vries, currently CEO of 4-Antibody in
Basel, Switzerland, for appointment as Chief Executive Officer of
Pharming to succeed Dr Francis J. Pinto. After serving with the
Company for almost seven years, Dr Pinto will retire from his current
position as CEO. He has agreed to remain associated with Pharming and
temporarily fulfill a non-executive position to ensure an orderly and
smooth transition.
Sijmen de Vries, MD, MBA, is a 48-year old Dutch national, with
extensive senior level experience in both the pharmaceutical and
biotechnology industries. Prior to 4-Antibody, Dr de Vries was the
CEO of Morphochem. Earlier in his career, he held numerous senior
business and commercial positions at Novartis as well as at
SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals. Dr de Vries also holds
non-executive directorships in two private life science companies.
To ensure a smooth transition, Dr Francis Pinto has agreed to act as
Non-Executive Chairman of the Management Board until the next Annual
General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) of the Company in 2009. The
transition plan will include four task forces for the period leading
up to the next AGM.
* The Rhucin® task force will be led by Dr Giannetti, focusing on
the upcoming Rhucin® filings;
* The DNage task force will be focusing on the development and
partnering of the DNage ageing products and will be led by Dr
Strijker;
* The task force addressing "Financing and Shareholder Value" will
be led by Dr Pinto; and
* The task force developing the Pharming organisation and 2009
plans and budgets will be led by Dr de Vries.
Mr Jaap Blaak, Chairman of Pharming's Board of Supervisory Directors
said: "Pharming is very grateful to Francis Pinto who became CEO of
the Company in the most difficult period of its existence. Not only
was he willing to accept the executive position initially without a
cash component in his salary, but also invested a significant amount
of his private money in the Company and was able to convince other
investors as well to help re-build Pharming. Under his leadership,
Pharming was able to make a remarkable turn-around and is close to
having its first products on the market. We are delighted that he has
agreed to delay his retirement even somewhat further and remain
associated with the Company for the time being heading a task-force
that will address future financing of Pharming.
At the same time, I am convinced that Sijmen de Vries, through his
successful international experience, his medical background and
proven commercial track record, will be a valuable addition to the
management of Pharming bringing both his big-pharma and small-biotech
experience to the Company. We are very fortunate that he has agreed
to be nominated for appointment as CEO by our Shareholders."
Dr. de Vries will be proposed for appointment in an Extraordinary
General Meeting of Shareholders to be held on October 13, 2008.
Details of that meeting and all related documents can be found at the
Pharming website.
About Pharming Group NV
Pharming Group NV is developing innovative products for the treatment
of genetic disorders, ageing diseases, specialty products for
surgical indications, intermediates for various applications and
nutritional products. Pharming has two products in late stage
development - Rhucin® for Hereditary Angioedema and human lactoferrin
for use in food products. The advanced technologies of the Company
include innovative platforms for the production of protein
therapeutics, technology and processes for the purification and
formulation of these products, as well as technology in the field of
DNA repair (via DNage). Additional information is available on the
Pharming website, http://www.pharming.com and on
http://www.dnage.nl.
This press release contains forward looking statements that involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may
cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company
to be materially different from the results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by these forward looking
statements. The press release also appears in Dutch. In the event of
any inconsistency, the English version will prevail over the Dutch
version.
Contact:
Carina Hamaker, Investor Voice, T: +31 (0)6 537 499 59 or T: +31
(0)71 52 47 400
Julia Philips (UK), Financial Dynamics, T: +44 (0)20 7269 7187 or T:
+44 (0)7770 827 263
Samir Singh (US), Pharming Group NV, T: +1 908 720 6224
Rein Strijker, Pharming Group NV, T: +31 (0)71 52 47 400
