Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPHM) (NASDAQ:PPHMP), a
company focused on helping improve patient lives by providing high
quality biologics manufacturing services to biotechnology and
pharmaceutical companies, today announced the appointment of Mark
R. Bamforth as an independent member of the board of
directors of both Peregrine and Avid Bioservices, the company’s
wholly-owned contract development and manufacturing organization
(CDMO) subsidiary. Mr. Bamforth has 30 years of biologics
leadership experience including founding two CDMOs, Brammer Bio,
where he is currently the president and CEO, and Gallus
BioPharmaceuticals, which was acquired by DPx Holdings B.V., the
parent company of Patheon. Additionally, he served for more than 20
years in key roles at Genzyme Corporation, including 10 years as a
corporate officer responsible for running global manufacturing.
“Mark is a great addition to the board of
directors as we continue our transition to becoming a dedicated
CDMO business. With his extensive experience in the CDMO
space, both as an entrepreneur who has founded, grown, acquired and
sold a successful CDMO company, as well as his experience as a key
executive at Genzyme Corporation, he is ideally suited to help
oversee the transition of the company into a leading CDMO,” said
Steven W. King, president and chief executive officer of Peregrine.
“Combined with the recent appointment of Dr. Roger Lias as
president of Avid Bioservices and member of Peregrine’s board of
directors, today’s appointment further underscores our commitment
to reconstitute the board of directors with high quality CDMO
industry experience. We look forward to providing further
updates in the near future as we continue the process.”
Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Mr. Bamforth
currently serves as the president and CEO of Brammer Bio, a cell
and gene therapy CDMO that he founded in 2015 and merged with
Florida Biologix, an established, 10-year old CDMO, in March
2016. In this role, he oversees a team of more than 300
employees providing services ranging from process development and
early clinical supply services to production of Phase III clinical
supplies and support for licensure of gene therapy products.
Previously, he founded Gallus BioPharmaceuticals, a biologics CDMO
that experienced rapid growth leading to its acquisition by DPx
Holdings B.V., the parent company of Patheon, in 2014 for $257.2
million.
Prior to his founding of Brammer Bio and Gallus
BioPharmaceuticals, Mr. Bamforth spent 22 years with Genzyme
Corporation rising to the position of senior vice president of
corporate operations and pharmaceuticals. In this role, he
oversaw a multi-technology, global operations team comprised of
more than 3,600 individuals at 13 internal sites and a network of
24 contract manufacturing organizations. This team was
charged with supplying over 20 commercial products and multiple
clinical products that spanned biologics, cell therapy, gene
therapy, pharmaceuticals and biologic devices. While at
Genzyme, Mr. Bamforth served as a member of the CEO’s operating
committee, helping to guide corporate strategy acquisition,
partnering and growth to over $4 billion in sales.
“We continue to see significant growth potential
in the CDMO space, particularly for companies that understand the
nuanced needs of biopharmaceutical companies and can offer creative
and sophisticated development and manufacturing solutions. I
believe that Avid Bioservices is well positioned to capitalize on
these growth opportunities based on its state-of-the-art Myford
manufacturing facility, as well as its established track record of
commercial and clinical manufacturing and regulatory excellence,”
stated Mr. Bamforth. “I am pleased to have the opportunity to join
the boards of both Peregrine and Avid at this exciting time of
transition for the companies and look forward to sharing my
industry experience to contribute to the ongoing success of the
CDMO business.”
Mr. Bamforth also serves on the boards of
MassBio and the Wentworth Institute of Technology, and is a Saltire
Foundation founding-trustee. He earned a bachelor of science in
chemical engineering from Strathclyde University and an MBA from
Henley Management College.
Avid Bioservices was established out of
Peregrine’s internal biologics manufacturing and development
capabilities and began formal operations in January 2002. The
company has grown from an internal support operation to a full
service CDMO that manufactures bulk drug substance for products
that are approved and marketed in over 18 countries by leading
biopharma companies. Avid was recently recognized as a leading CDMO
by Life Science Leader as a recipient of multiple 2017 Contract
Manufacturing Leadership Awards for Quality, Reliability,
Capabilities, Expertise and Compatibility. The company has an
outstanding regulatory inspection history and state-of-the-art cGMP
manufacturing facilities. Mr. King has served as president of
Avid since its formation in addition to his role as president and
CEO of Peregrine Pharmaceuticals since 2003.
About Peregrine Pharmaceuticals,
Inc.Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a company
transitioning from an R&D focused business to a pure play
contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO).
Peregrine's in-house CDMO services, including cGMP manufacturing
and development capabilities, are provided through its wholly-owned
subsidiary Avid Bioservices, Inc. (www.avidbio.com).
The company is pursuing to license or sell its
proprietary R&D assets, including its lead immunotherapy
candidate, bavituximab, which is currently being evaluated in
clinical trials in combination with immune stimulating therapies
for the treatment of various cancers. For more information,
please visit www.peregrineinc.com.
About Avid Bioservices, Inc.Avid Bioservices, a
wholly owned subsidiary of Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, provides a
comprehensive range of process development, high quality cGMP
clinical and commercial manufacturing services for the
biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries. With over 20 years
of experience producing monoclonal antibodies and recombinant
proteins in batch, fed-batch and perfusion modes, Avid's services
include cGMP clinical and commercial product manufacturing,
purification, bulk packaging, stability testing and regulatory
strategy, submission and support. The company also provides a
variety of process development activities, including cell line
development and optimization, cell culture and feed optimization,
analytical methods development and product characterization. For
more information about Avid, please visit www.avidbio.com.
Important Additional
Information Peregrine intends to file a proxy statement
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in connection
with the solicitation of proxies for Peregrine's 2017 Annual
Meeting (Proxy Statement) with an associated WHITE proxy card.
Peregrine, its directors and certain of its executive officers will
be participants in the solicitation of proxies from stockholders in
respect of the 2017 Annual Meeting. Information regarding the names
of Peregrine's directors and executive officers and their
respective interests in Peregrine by security holdings or otherwise
is set forth in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Peregrine, for
the fiscal year ended April 30, 2017, filed with the SEC on July
14, 2017, and Peregrine's proxy statement for the 2016 Annual
Meeting, filed with the SEC on August 26, 2016. To the extent
holdings of such participants in Peregrine's securities are not
reported, or have changed since the amounts described, in the 2016
proxy statement, such changes have been reflected on Initial
Statements of Beneficial Ownership on Form 3 or Statements of
Change in Ownership on Form 4 filed with the SEC. Details
concerning the nominees of Peregrine's Board of Directors for
election at the 2017 Annual Meeting will be included in the Proxy
Statement. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING DECISION, INVESTORS AND
STOCKHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY ARE URGED TO READ ALL RELEVANT
DOCUMENTS FILED WITH OR FURNISHED TO THE SEC, INCLUDING THE
COMPANY'S DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT AND ANY SUPPLEMENTS THERETO,
BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Investors and
stockholders will be able to obtain a copy of the definitive proxy
statement and other documents filed by Peregrine free of charge
from the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. Peregrine's stockholders will
also be able to obtain, without charge, a copy of the definitive
Proxy Statement and other relevant filed documents by directing a
request by mail to Peregrine, Corporate Secretary's Office, 14282
Franklin Avenue, Tustin, CA 92780, by calling Peregrine's proxy
solicitor, MacKenzie Partners, Inc., toll-free at (800) 322-2885,
or from Peregrine's website at www.Peregrine.com.
Contacts:
Stephanie Diaz (Investors)
Vida Strategic Partners
415-675-7401
sdiaz@vidasp.com
Tim Brons (Media)
Vida Strategic Partners
415-675-7402
tbrons@vidasp.com
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