LEIDEN, The Netherlands,
May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
Pharming Group N.V. ("Pharming" or "the Company") (Euronext
Amsterdam: PHARM) announces announces that at its Annual General
Meeting (AGM) of shareholders, held today, all proposals were
approved.
In addition, the Board of Supervisory Directors (BOSD)announced
that Paul Sekhri is succeeding
Jaap Blaak, who is stepping down
after eight years as Chairman of the BOSD. Mr. Blaak will continue
to serve on the BOSD.
Mr Sekhri joined the BOSD at last years' AGM. He has 30 years of
operational experience in life sciences with in-depth knowledge of
multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology markets and
products. Mr. Sekhri is currently President and 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
has 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,
Cerimon Pharmaceuticals, Novartis AG, Ariad Pharmaceuticals and TPG
Biotech. 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. In
addition to his board position with Lycera, he currently serves on
other public and private boards including Enumeral Holdings, Inc.,
Nivalis Therapeutics, Inc., and Veeva Systems, Inc. as well as
several non-profit boards including Caramoor Music and Arts Center,
Young Concert Artists, Inc., the TB Alliance and the Cancer
Research Institute, and he is a member of the Patrons Council of
Carnegie Hall where he served as a member of the Board of Trustees
from 2010-2012.
Sijmen de Vries, Pharming's CEO commented; "We are delighted
that Paul has agreed to become Chairman of the BOSD at this
exciting time in Pharming's development. His extensive industry
experience and network will be important assets to support the
growth trajectory ahead of us. Jaap has been Chairman of the BOSD
and has performed an excellent job, during a very difficult time
for Pharming, and all of us at the Company feel grateful for his
wisdom, support, tenacity and leadership during his tenure as
Chairman over the last eight years; an exciting period, one with
many serious challenges that have been overcome."
The presentation slides from today's AGM are available on the
Company's website.
About Pharming Group N.V.
Pharming is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing
innovative products for the safe, effective treatment of rare
diseases and unmet medical needs. Pharming's lead product,
RUCONEST® (conestat alfa) is a recombinant human C1 esterase
inhibitor approved for the treatment of acute Hereditary Angioedema
("HAE") attacks in patients in Europe, the US and rest of the world. The
product is available on a named-patient basis in other territories
where it has not yet obtained marketing authorization.
RUCONEST® is commercialized 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 distributed in North
America, Canada and
Mexico by Valeant Pharmaceuticals
International, Inc. (NYSE: VRX/TSX: VRX), following Valeant's
acquisition of Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd.
RUCONEST® is distributed in Argentina, Colombia, Costa
Rica, the Dominican
Republic, Panama and
Venezuela, by Cytobioteck.
RUCONEST® is distributed in South
Korea by HyupJin Corporation and in Israel by Megapharm.
RUCONEST® is being investigated in a Phase II randomized, double
blind placebo-controlled clinical trial for prophylactic treatment
of HAE and is being evaluated for other indications as well. The
Phase II study was fully recruited shortly after the year-end.
RUCONEST® is also being investigated in a Phase II clinical
trial for the treatment of HAE in young children (2-13 years of
age) and evaluated for various additional follow-on
indications.
Pharming's technology platform includes a unique, GMP-compliant,
validated process for the production of pure recombinant human
proteins that has proven capable of producing industrial quantities
of high quality recombinant human proteins in a more economical and
less immunogenetic way compared with current cell-line based
methods. Leads for enzyme replacement therapy ("ERT") for Pompe and
Fabry's diseases are being optimized at present, with additional
programs not involving ERT also at an early stage of
development.
Pharming has a long term partnership with the Shanghai Institute
of Pharmaceutical Industry ("SIPI"), a Sinopharm company, for joint
global development of new products, starting with recombinant human
Factor VIII for the treatment of Haemophilia A. Pre-clinical
development and manufacturing will take place to global standards
at SIPI and are funded by SIPI. Clinical development will be shared
between the partners with each partner taking the costs for their
territories under the partnership.
Pharming has declared that the
Netherlands is its "Home Member State" pursuant to the
amended article 5:25a paragraph 2 of the Dutch Financial
Supervision Act.
Additional information is available on the Pharming website:
http://www.pharming.com
Forward-looking statements
This press release of Pharming Group N.V. and its
subsidiaries ("Pharming", the
"Company" or the
"Group") may contain forward-looking
statements including without limitation those regarding
Pharming's financial projections, market
expectations, developments, partnerships, plans, strategies and
capital expenditures.
The Company cautions that such forward-looking statements may
involve certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may
differ. Risks and uncertainties include without limitation the
effect of competitive, political and economic factors, legal
claims, the Company's ability to protect intellectual
property, fluctuations in exchange and interest rates, changes in
taxation laws or rates, changes in legislation or accountancy
practices and the Company's ability to identify,
develop and successfully commercialise new products, markets or
technologies.
As a result, the Company's actual performance,
position and financial results and statements may differ materially
from the plans, goals and expectations set forth in such
forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to
update any forward-looking statements or information, which should
be taken as of their respective dates of issue, unless required by
laws or regulations.
Contact
Sijmen de Vries, CEO: T: +31-71-524-7400
FTI Consulting
Julia Phillips/ Victoria Foster Mitchell, T:
+44-203-727-1136