Pharming Shareholders appoint Sijmen de Vries as new CEO
Leiden, The Netherlands, October 13, 2008. Biotech company Pharming
Group NV ("Pharming" or "The Company") (Euronext: PHARM) announced
today the appointment of Dr Sijmen de Vries as Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) of Pharming. This decision was taken by the
Shareholders at an Extraordinary Meeting (EGM) held earlier today. Dr
de Vries will take up his position as of November 3, 2008 as
successor to Dr Francis J. Pinto who will retire at the next Annual
General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) of the Company in 2009. Until
then, Dr Pinto will stay on as Non-Executive Chairman of the
Management Board to ensure a 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. He joins Pharming from Swiss-based
4-Antibody where he was CEO. Dr de Vries has also been CEO of
Morphochem and prior to this spent many years at Novartis and at
SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals where he held senior business and
commercial positions. Dr de Vries also holds non-executive
directorships in two private life science companies.
"I am very excited by the opportunity that Pharming presents," said
Dr de Vries. "The Company, with late stage products moving towards
the market, plays to my strengths in global strategic marketing and
commercialization. I have strong confidence in the technologies and
products that are being developed by Pharming and believe that I can
contribute to the success of these commercial opportunities based on
my experience built in pharma and biotech companies."
Dr Pinto commented: "Pharming is delighted to attract a CEO like
Sijmen at this stage of the Company's development. I have great
confidence in Pharming's ability to pursue the opportunities that lie
ahead under his leadership and I am looking forward to working
together in the coming months for a successful handover."
A transition plan will be put in place to focus on optimising the key
aspects of Pharming's business. This plan includes a number of 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 focus on the development and partnering
of the DNage ageing products and will be led by Dr Strijker;
* The task force "Financing and Shareholder Value" led by Dr Pinto
will be addressing the future financing of Pharming; and
* The task force further developing the Pharming organization and
2009 plans and budgets will be led by Dr de Vries.
Mr Jaap Blaak, Chairman of Pharming's Board of Supervisory Directors
said: "We are very pleased that the Shareholders have agreed to the
appointment of Dr de Vries for the position of CEO of Pharming. His
medical background and strong commercial track record will be a
valuable addition to the management of Pharming. Dr de Vries has
extensive international business development and strategic marketing
experience which will be of utmost importance to us as we focus on
the commercialisation of our lead products.
We are very grateful to Dr Pinto who became CEO of the Company in the
most difficult period of its existence and brought it where it is
today. Under his leadership, Pharming has made a remarkable
turnaround and is close to having its first products on the market.
During his seven years as CEO, Dr Pinto was instrumental in raising
funds for Pharming and remains a committed shareholder. We have asked
Dr Pinto to head the financing taskforce and are delighted that he
has agreed to remain associated with the Company to ensure a smooth
transition."
At the EGM, the majority of the Shareholders also voted in favour of
the proposed option arrangements for the CEO and the COO of Pharming,
and the adaptation of the remuneration of the BOSD members. The
amendment of the Articles of Association of the Company was accepted
and authorisation was given to effect the amendment of the Articles
of Association, which can be found on Pharming's 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.
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 Phillips (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
This announcement is originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is
solely responsible for the content of this announcement.