Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Announces New Appointments and Changes to its Board of Directors
April 01 2016 - 8:30AM
Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:KERX), a biopharmaceutical
company focused on bringing innovative medicines to market for
people with renal disease, today announced appointment of two
industry leaders to Keryx’s board of directors, which increases the
size of the company’s board to 10 members. These appointments are
expected to bring deep, relevant industry experience to Keryx at an
important time in the company’s growth.
On March 31, 2016, Steven C. Gilman, Ph.D., and Michael Rogers
were elected as independent directors to Keryx’s board of
directors, effective immediately. Dr. Gilman brings broad
scientific and development expertise to Keryx’s board having led or
built several successful R&D organizations; he served most
recently, for seven years, as chief scientific officer at Cubist
Pharmaceuticals until its acquisition by Merck & Co. Mr. Rogers
has been the chief financial officer of Acorda Therapeutics since
October 2013 and brings to Keryx valuable experience from his two
decades of financial leadership in the biotech industry.
Four current board members, Michael Tarnok, Jack Kaye, Senator
Wyche Fowler, Jr. and Joseph Feczko, M.D. will not seek re-election
to the company’s Board when their terms expire at Keryx’s 2016
Annual Meeting in May. Following conclusion of the annual meeting,
Keryx will reduce the size of the company’s board to six members.
Additionally, John P. Butler, an independent director, was
elected by the Board to serve as chairman, a role he will assume
beginning at Keryx’s 2016 Annual Meeting.
“We are pleased to have attracted such accomplished industry
professionals to our board and look forward to gaining insights
from Steve and Michael as the company continues its ongoing
evolution,” said Mr. Butler. “We believe the new members reflect
our commitment to advancing the organization and, as Keryx
continues to grow, we will look for opportunities to add further
complementary expertise to our board. On behalf of the entire
board I would like to thank Mike, Jack, Wyche and Joe for their
long and valuable service, and their important contributions in
guiding Keryx to its current position as a fully integrated
biopharmaceutical company.”
“It is with great enthusiasm that I join the board of Keryx,”
said Steve Gilman, Ph.D. “With the positive read out of the phase 3
study that evaluated ferric citrate for the treatment of iron
deficiency anemia in stage 3 - 5 chronic kidney disease patients,
the company is well positioned for significant growth.”
Michael Rogers added, “With a strong commercial infrastructure
in place and a potential label expansion for the company’s current
product, Keryx’s future is bright. I look forward to helping guide
the company as it drives Auryxia to its full potential and
leverages the solid foundation it now has in place.”
About Steve Gilman, Ph.D.Dr. Gilman has more
than 28 years of experience in the healthcare industry. Prior to
joining Cubist, he served as chairman of the Board of Directors and
chief executive officer of ActivBiotics, a privately held
biopharmaceutical company. Previously, Dr. Gilman worked at
Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he held a number of senior
leadership roles including vice president and general manager of
Inflammation. Prior to Millennium, he was group director at Pfizer
Global Research and Development, where he was responsible for drug
discovery of several therapeutic areas, including immunology and
antibacterials. Dr. Gilman has also held scientific, business, and
academic appointments at Wyeth, Cytogen Corporation, Temple Medical
School, and Connecticut College. He currently serves as chairman
and interim CEO of ContraFect Corporation (Nasdaq:CFRX) and on the
board of directors of Vericel (Nasdaq:VCEL), SCYNEXIS
(Nasdaq:SCYX), the Massachusetts Biotechnology Association, the
Northeastern University Drug Discovery Advisory Board and the Penn
State University Biotechnology Advisory Board. Dr. Gilman received
his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in microbiology from Pennsylvania State
University, his post-doctoral training at Scripps Clinic and
Research Foundation, and received a B.A. in microbiology from Miami
University of Ohio.
About Michael RogersMr. Rogers has more than 25
years of biopharmaceutical industry experience, serving as chief
financial officer of four additional healthcare companies BG
Medicine, Inc., Indevus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Advanced Health
Corporation and Autoimmune Inc. Prior to his roles as CFO, Mr.
Rogers was an investment banker at Lehman Brothers and PaineWebber,
where he focused on life sciences companies. Mr. Rogers received
his B.A. from Union College and an M.B.A. from the Darden School of
Business at the University of Virginia. He currently serves on the
Board of Directors for pSivida Corp.
About Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. Keryx
Biopharmaceuticals, with headquarters in Boston, is focused on
bringing innovative medicines to market for people with renal
disease. In December 2014, the company launched its first
FDA-approved medicine, Auryxia™ (ferric citrate) for the control of
elevated serum phosphorus levels, or hyperphosphatemia, in patients
with chronic kidney disease (CKD) on dialysis, in the United
States. In January 2014, ferric citrate was approved for the
treatment of patients with all stages of CKD in Japan, where it is
being marketed as Riona® by Keryx's Japanese partner, Japan Tobacco
Inc. and Torii Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. In September 2015, the
European Commission granted European market authorization for
Fexeric® (ferric citrate coordination complex) for the control of
hyperphosphatemia in adults with non-dialysis and
dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease. For more information
about Keryx, please visit www.keryx.com
Forward-Looking Statements Some of the
statements included in this press release may be forward-looking
statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. For
those statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for
forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Among the factors that could cause
our actual results to differ materially are the following: the risk
that we may not be able to successfully market Auryxia in the
U.S. for patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis; the risk
that the FDA may not concur with our interpretation of our Phase 3
study results, supportive data, conduct of the studies, or any
other part of our regulatory submission and could ultimately deny
approval of the ferric citrate for the treatment of iron deficiency
anemia (IDA) in adults with stage 3-5 non-dialysis dependent (NDD)
chronic kidney disease (CKD); the risk that we may not be able to
identify additional candidates to join our Board of Directors; and
other risk factors identified from time to time in our reports
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward
looking statements set forth in this press release speak only as of
the date of this press release. We do not undertake to update any
of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or
circumstances that occur after the date hereof. This press release
and prior releases are available at http://www.keryx.com. The
information found on our website is not incorporated by reference
into this press release and is included for reference purposes
only.
KERYX BIOPHARMACEUTICALS CONTACT:
Amy Sullivan
Vice President, Corporate Development and Public Affairs
T: 617.466.3519; amy.sullivan@keryx.com
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