Organovo Appoints Two New Members to Board of Directors
August 18 2016 - 8:05AM
Organovo Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:ONVO) (“Organovo”), a
three-dimensional biology company focused on delivering scientific
and medical breakthroughs using its 3D bioprinting technology,
today announced that its board of directors has appointed two new
members. Mark Kessel, co-founder and partner of Symphony
Capital LLC, and Richard Maroun, executive partner at Frazier
Healthcare Partners, will join Organovo’s board, effective
today. The appointments increase the number of Organovo
directors to seven.
“Mark and Rick bring tremendous capital markets, corporate
governance, operational and strategic management expertise to our
organization,” said Keith Murphy, chairman and chief executive
officer, Organovo. “Their leadership experience across the
life sciences sector adds to the strength of our already
outstanding board, and I’m confident they’ll make significant
contributions as we enter our next phase of commercial growth and
build value for our shareholders. I’m grateful for their
willingness to join the board at such an important time in our
organizational development, as well as the ongoing support from all
of our directors.”
With their addition to the board, Kessel will become a member of
the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and the Science
and Technology Committee, while Maroun will join the Audit and
Compensation Committees.
Mark Kessel is a partner of Symphony Capital, LLC, a private
equity firm he co-founded in 2002 that invests in biopharmaceutical
company clinical development programs. He is also Of Counsel
at Shearman & Sterling and a member of the firm’s capital
markets group. Previously, from 1971 to 2001, Mr. Kessel held
various roles at Shearman & Sterling, including as managing
partner leading the international law firm’s day-to-day
operations. He helped build the firm, serving as a leader in
the healthcare, biopharmaceutical, agricultural biotech, high-tech,
and financial services practices. He also established the
firm’s San Francisco office, serving as its managing partner and
turning it into the leader in M&A, capital markets, corporate
governance, and intellectual property and licensing issues.
Mr. Kessel has previously served on several public
biopharmaceutical company boards.
Richard Maroun is an executive partner at Frazier Healthcare
Partners, a private equity and venture capital firm specializing in
healthcare-focused investments. Before joining Frazier in
2015, Maroun was senior vice president and general counsel of
Aptalis Pharmaceuticals from 2012 to 2014. He has also held
numerous senior executive roles for APP Pharmaceuticals, Abraxis
BioScience and American BioScience Inc. Mr. Maroun has worked
with major financial organizations and independent law firms, and
has held both legal and financial positions with companies
including Merrill Lynch, Deloitte & Touche and McDonough,
Holland & Allen. Mr. Maroun currently serves on the board
of Leiter’s Enterprises, a private portfolio company of Frazier
Healthcare Partners, and the Board of Trustees of John Carroll
University.
About Organovo Holdings,
Inc.Organovo designs and creates functional,
three-dimensional human tissues for use in medical research and
therapeutic applications. The Company develops 3D human
tissue models through internal development and in collaboration
with pharmaceutical, academic and other partners.
Organovo's 3D human tissues have the potential to accelerate
the drug discovery process, enabling treatments to be developed
faster and at lower cost. The Company’s initial product is
the exVive3DTM Human Liver Tissue for use in toxicology and
other preclinical drug testing. Additional products are in
development, with the anticipated release of the
exVive3D Human Kidney Tissue scheduled for the third quarter
of calendar year 2016. The Company also actively conducts
early research on specific tissues for therapeutic use in direct
surgical applications. In addition to numerous scientific
publications, the Company's technology has been featured
in The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, The Economist,
Forbes, and numerous other media outlets. Organovo is
changing the shape of life science research and transforming
medical care. Learn more
at www.organovo.com.
Forward-Looking StatementsAny statements
contained in this press release that do not describe historical
facts constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined
in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any
forward-looking statements contained herein are based on current
expectations, but are subject to a number of risks and
uncertainties. The factors that could cause the Company's
actual future results to differ materially from current
expectations include, but are not limited to, risks and
uncertainties relating to the Company's ability to develop, market
and sell products and services based on its technology; the
expected benefits and efficacy of the Company's products, services
and technology; the market acceptance of the Company's products and
services; the Company's business, research, product development,
regulatory approval, marketing and distribution plans and
strategies; the Company's ability to successfully complete the
contracts and recognize the revenue represented by the contracts
included in its previously reported total contract bookings and
secure additional contracted collaborative relationships.
These and other factors are identified and described in more detail
in the Company's filings with the SEC, including its Annual
Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on June 9,
2016. You should not place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date that
they were made. These cautionary statements should be
considered with any written or oral forward-looking statements that
the Company may issue in the future. Except as required by
applicable law, including the securities laws
of the United States, the Company does not intend to
update any of the forward-looking statements to conform these
statements to reflect actual results, later events or circumstances
or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Investor Contact:
Steve Kunszabo
Organovo Holdings, Inc.
+1 (858) 224-1092
skunszabo@organovo.com
Press Contact:
Jessica Yingling
Little Dog Communications
+1 (858) 480-2411
jessica@litldog.com
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