HOLON, Israel, August 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Compugen Ltd. (NASDAQ: CGEN), a leader in predictive discovery
and development of first-in-class therapeutics for cancer
immunotherapy, announced today that the Board of Directors has
appointed Paul Sekhri to serve as a
Director and Chairman of the Board, effective October 2, 2017. As the new Chairman, Mr. Sekhri
will succeed Martin Gerstel, who
announced his intention to retire from this role in February of
this year.
"We are delighted to have Paul
Sekhri join us as our new Chairman," said Anat Cohen-Dayag, PhD, President and CEO of
Compugen. "Paul brings to Compugen over 30 years of experience in
the life sciences industry and a proven track record in drug
development, business development and commercial strategy, as well
as extensive board and capital markets expertise. I look forward to
benefitting from his leadership during this next exciting chapter
of our corporate development, as we aim to leverage the
opportunities offered by our predictive capabilities and novel
pipeline and strive to maximize the value of our assets for the
benefit of patients and our shareholders."
"I am honored to have been given the opportunity to lead
Compugen as its new Chairman. Compugen is an extraordinary company
with highly differentiated predictive discovery capabilities and an
impressive therapeutic pipeline," said Paul
Sekhri. "I look forward to working with my fellow directors,
Anat, and the entire senior management team to establish Compugen
as a key industry player in the space of cancer immunotherapy."
Martin Gerstel said, "I am
extremely proud of our successful establishment of a unique and
broadly applicable predictive discovery capability, and through its
initial focused utilization the creation of a very promising
immunotherapy pipeline. When announcing earlier this year my
planned retirement, I commented that following the anticipated
entrance into human clinical testing of product candidates based on
our novel target discoveries, and the signing of additional
collaboration agreements, I am confident that these past
achievements will be more broadly recognized, and Compugen will
then be seen as, and in fact be, a very different company with both
new opportunities and new challenges. Accordingly, it would be
appropriate for Compugen to have a new chairperson on board at that
time to guide the next chapter of our corporate growth as the
Company leverages its unique capabilities to expand and enhance our
medical and commercial value. I have no doubt that Paul is the
right person to undertake this challenge and I look forward to
doing whatever I can to support his efforts."
Dr. Cohen-Dayag concluded, "I would like to acknowledge Martin
for his leadership and vision as Chairman of the Board and his
invaluable contributions to Compugen's development for two decades.
I also want to personally thank him for his guidance and support
over the past seven years and for the exceptional and fruitful
teamwork during my tenure as President and CEO."
Paul Sekhri was appointed the
President and CEO of Lycera Corp. in February 2015. Prior to joining Lycera, he served
as Senior Vice President, Integrated Care for Sanofi from
April 2014 through January 2015. Previously, he served as Group
Executive Vice President, Global Business Development and Chief
Strategy Officer for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd. Prior to
joining Teva he spent five years as Operating Partner and Head of
the Biotechnology Operating Group at TPG Biotech, the life sciences
venture capital arm of TPG Capital. From 2004-2009, Mr. Sekhri was
Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Cerimon
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to founding Cerimon, Mr. Sekhri was
President and Chief Business Officer of ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Previously, Mr. Sekhri spent four years at Novartis, as Senior Vice
President, and Head of Global Search and Evaluation, Business
Development and Licensing for Novartis Pharma AG. Mr. Sekhri also
developed the Disease Area Strategy for Novartis, identifying those
specific therapeutic areas upon which the company would focus. His
first role at Novartis was as Global Head, Early Commercial
Development - a department he established to ensure the
differential competitive advantage of Novartis' pipeline.
Mr. Sekhri completed graduate work in Neuroscience at the
University of Maryland School of
Medicine, where he also received his BS in Zoology.
Mr. Sekhri is currently a member of the Board of Directors of
Veeva Systems Inc., Chairman of the Board of Supervisory Directors
of Pharming N.V. and Topas Therapeutics GmbH, and was recently
nominated as Chairman of the Board of Petra Pharma. Additionally,
he is on the Board of Directors of the TB Alliance, and, as an avid
classical music enthusiast, is Vice Chairman of Young Concert
Artists, Inc., and is on the Board of Trustees of Caramoor Center
for Music and the Arts. Mr. Sekhri is also an active member of the
Patrons Council of Carnegie Hall.
About Compugen
Compugen is a therapeutic discovery and development company
utilizing its broadly applicable predictive discovery
infrastructure to identify novel drug targets and develop
first-in-class therapeutics in the field of cancer immunotherapy.
The Company's therapeutic pipeline consists of immuno-oncology
programs against novel drug targets it has discovered, including T
cell immune checkpoints and myeloid target programs. Compugen's
business model is to selectively enter into collaborations for its
novel targets and related drug product candidates at various stages
of research and development. The Company is headquartered in
Israel, with R&D facilities in
both Israel and South San Francisco, CA. Compugen's shares are
listed on NASDAQ and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange under the ticker
symbol CGEN. For additional information, please visit Compugen's
corporate website at http://www.cgen.com.
Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of
terminology such as "will," "may," "expects," "anticipates,"
"believes," "potential," "plan," "goal," "estimate," "likely,"
"should," and "intends," and describe opinions about possible
future events. These forward-looking statements involve known and
unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results,
performance or achievements of Compugen to be materially different
from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. Among these risks:
Compugen's business model is substantially dependent on entering
into collaboration agreements with third parties, Compugen may not
be successful in generating adequate revenues or commercializing
aspects of its business model. Moreover, the development and
commercialization of therapeutic candidates involve many inherent
risks, including failure to progress to clinical trials or, if they
progress to or enter clinical trials, failure to receive regulatory
approval. These and other factors are more fully discussed in the
"Risk Factors" section of Compugen's most recent Annual Report on
Form 20-F as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) as well as other documents that may be subsequently filed by
Compugen from time to time with the SEC. In addition, any
forward-looking statements represent Compugen's views only as of
the date of this release and should not be relied upon as
representing its views as of any subsequent date. Compugen does not
assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements
unless required by law.
Company contact:
Elana Holzman
Director, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
Compugen Ltd.
Email: elanah@cgen.com
Tel: +972-(3)-765-8124
SOURCE Compugen Ltd.