– NETHERLANDS, Leiden – Pharming Group N.V. (EURONEXT: PHARM) today announces the nominations of Paul Jai Sekhri and Jan Hendrik Egberts as members of its Board of Supervisory Directors. The nominations will be subject to shareholders’ approval at the upcoming Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, which will take place on 30 April 2015.
Mr. Sekhri (1958) has over 28 years of operational experience in life sciences with in-depth knowledge of multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology markets and products. Mr. Sekhri is currently Chief Executive Officer of Lycera Corp., a biopharmaceutical company developing breakthrough medicines to treat cancer and autoimmune disease. Prior to joining Lycera, Mr. Sekhri was Senior Vice President, Integrated Care at Sanofi, where he led the creation of innovative solutions and business models to meet patient needs. Previously, he served as Group Executive Vice President, Global Business Development and Chief Strategy Officer at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Mr. Sekhri has held positions in small biopharmaceutical companies, large and small pharmaceutical companies, and venture capital/private equity firms, including TPG, Cerimon Pharmaceuticals, Ariad Pharmaceuticals and Novartis AG. Mr. Sekhri completed postgraduate studies in clinical anatomy and neuroscience at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine and received his BSc degree from the University of Maryland.
Mr. Egberts (1958) has over 25 years of executive experience in the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors, most recently as Chief Executive Officer at Agendia Inc., a molecular diagnostics company. Prior to this, Mr. Egberts was Chief Executive Officer of OctoPlus N.V., a specialty pharmaceutical company, which was acquired by Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. in 2013. Mr. Egberts also served as a senior healthcare advisor for 3i Group plc, a private equity firm and as President, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NovaDel Pharmaceuticals Inc., where he developed a portfolio of pre-clinical and clinical compounds, gaining FDA approval for two compounds. In addition, Mr. Egberts has held multiple business development and general management positions at Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co. and Mölnlycke Health Care. Mr. Egberts graduated from Erasmus University Medical School in the Netherlands and he obtained his MBA from Stanford after which he worked as a management consultant for McKinsey & Co. Mr. Egberts continues to serve on the supervisory board of CHDR (Center for Human Drug Research) and Implanet SA.
The Chairman of Pharming’s Board of Supervisory Directors, Jaap Blaak, said: “We are delighted that our Board may be strengthened with two highly qualified professionals, who have vast experience and networks in the Pharma and Biotech business, both in Europe and the US. We believe both Paul and Jan will be valuable assets for Pharming. In particular, their expertise in developing and commercialising products and business development will help us build a financially sustainable enterprise with a pipeline beyond the Ruconest franchise and I look forward to working with them to achieve this.”
About Pharming Group N.V.
Pharming Group N.V. is developing innovative products for the treatment of unmet medical needs. Ruconest® (conestat alfa) is a recombinant human C1 esterase inhibitor approved for the treatment of angioedema attacks in patients with HAE in the US, Israel, all 28 EU countries plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Ruconest is commercialised by Pharming in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands. Ruconest is distributed by Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (publ) (SS: SOBI) in the other EU countries and in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Norway, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine. Ruconest is partnered with Salix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SLXP) in North America.
Ruconest is also being investigated in a randomised Phase II clinical trial for prophylaxis of HAE and evaluated for various additional follow-on indications. Pharming has a unique GMP compliant, validated platform for the production of recombinant human proteins that has proven capable of producing industrial volumes of high quality recombinant human protein in a more economical way compared to current cell-based technologies. Leads for Enzyme Replacement Therapy in Pompe, Fabry’s and Gaucher’s diseases are under early evaluation.The platform is partnered with Shanghai Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry (SIPI), a Sinopharm Company, for joint global development of new products. Pre-clinical development and manufacturing will take place at SIPI and are funded by SIPI. Pharming and SIPI initially plan to utilise this platform for the development of recombinant human-Factor VIII for the treatment of Haemophilia A.
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