Arbutus Appoints William Collier as Next President & CEO and Announces Retirement of Current President & CEO, Mark J. Murray ...
June 17 2019 - 7:30AM
Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (Nasdaq: ABUS), an industry-leading
Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) therapeutic solutions company, today
announced the appointment of William H. Collier as President and
Chief Executive Officer, effective June 24th. Mr. Collier has also
been appointed as a member of the Board of Directors of Arbutus,
effective June 24th, to fill the vacancy created by the resignation
of Mark J. Murray, Ph.D., from the Board of Directors. Dr. Murray
will continue to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer and
as a member of the Board of Directors until his retirement on June
23rd. Dr. Murray and Arbutus Biopharma entered into a consulting
agreement on June 13, 2019 whereby Dr. Murray will provide
transition services from June 24, 2019 to August 23, 2019.
Mr. Collier has over 30 years of experience as a
senior executive in the pharmaceutical industry and previously
served as President and General Manager, North America at ViiV
Healthcare. At ViiV he led the industry-leading launches of several
new treatments for HIV. Prior to joining ViiV in 2009, Mr. Collier
held multiple senior leadership roles at GlaxoSmithKline. Earlier
in his career he led the launches of new treatments for herpes and
bacterial infections. Mr. Collier received his BSc in Mathematics
and Management Sciences from the University of Manchester Institute
of Science & Technology, UK, and served on The President’s
Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS from 2014 to 2017.
“I am delighted to join Arbutus at this
important inflection point in the company’s growth,” said Mr.
Collier. “HBV represents a global public health threat. It is the
world’s most common serious liver infection and is up to 100 times
more infectious than the HIV virus. It is also the primary cause of
liver cancer, which is the second leading cause of cancer death in
the world. Regrettably, as yet, there are no effective curative
treatments for these patients. I believe that Arbutus’ diverse
pipeline focused on HBV has the promise to offer people suffering
from Hepatitis B a potentially curative treatment.”
Dr. Mark Murray noted, “With the effective
consolidation of Arbutus’s operations and scientific team in
Warminster, Pennsylvania, a pipeline focused on a combination
therapeutic regimen to cure HBV, and a clear strategic business
plan in place, I believe this is an opportune time for me to retire
and for Arbutus to move forward under Bill Collier’s leadership. I
believe Bill’s extensive experience in the development and
commercialization of multiple virology products and his passion for
building competitive, high performing teams will be of great value
to Arbutus.”
“I would like to thank Mark for his service and
extend a warm welcome to Bill,” said Frank Torti, M.D., Chairman of
Arbutus’ Board of Directors. “We are excited to have Bill join our
exceptionally experienced team – one that has already demonstrated
a remarkable ability to discover and develop important new
anti-viral medicines – and look forward to him leading the next
phase of the company’s growth.”
In connection with the appointment of Mr.
Collier, Arbutus entered into an employment agreement with Mr.
Collier that, among other things, provides for the grant of a stock
option outside of Arbutus’ 2016 Omnibus Share and Incentive Plan,
or any other equity incentive plans of Arbutus, as an inducement
material to Mr. Collier’s entering into employment with Arbutus in
accordance with Nasdaq Stock Market LLC Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).
The stock option to purchase 1,112,000 common shares of Arbutus is
being granted effective as of Mr. Collier’s start date on June 24,
2019. The stock option grant was approved by the independent
Executive Compensation and Human Resources Committee of the Board
of Directors in accordance with Nasdaq Stock Market LLC Listing
Rule 5635(c)(4). The stock option will have an exercise price per
share equal to the closing price per share of Arbutus’ common
shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on June 24, 2019. The
stock option will have a ten-year term and will vest as to 25% of
the common shares on the one-year anniversary of Mr. Collier’s
start date and as to an additional 1/48th of the total original
number of common shares subject to Mr. Collier’s stock option on
the corresponding day of each month over the three year period
thereafter, subject to Mr. Collier’s continued employment with
Arbutus through the applicable vesting dates.
About ArbutusArbutus Biopharma
Corporation is a publicly traded (Nasdaq: ABUS) biopharmaceutical
company dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing a
cure for patients suffering from chronic Hepatitis B infection.
Arbutus is developing multiple drug candidates, each of which have
the potential to improve upon the standard of care and contribute
to a curative combination regimen. For more information,
visit www.arbutusbio.com.
Forward-Looking Statements and
InformationThis press release contains forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Section 27A of the Securities
Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
and forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian
securities laws (collectively, “forward-looking statements”).
Forward-looking statements in this press release include statements
about Arbutus’ highly focused and diverse HBV pipeline having the
promise to offer people suffering from Hepatitis B a potentially
curative treatment.
With respect to the forward-looking statements
contained in this press release, Arbutus has made numerous
assumptions regarding, among other things: the timely receipt of
expected payments; the effectiveness and timeliness of preclinical
and clinical trials, and the usefulness of the data; the timeliness
of regulatory approvals; the continued demand for Arbutus’ assets;
and the stability of economic and market conditions. While Arbutus
considers these assumptions to be reasonable, these assumptions are
inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive,
market and social uncertainties and contingencies.
Additionally, there are known and unknown risk
factors which could cause Arbutus' actual results, performance or
achievements to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements contained herein. Known risk factors
include, among others: anticipated pre-clinical studies and
clinical trials may be more costly or take longer to complete than
anticipated, and may never be initiated or completed, or may not
generate results that warrant future development of the tested drug
candidate; Arbutus may not receive the necessary regulatory
approvals for the clinical development of Arbutus' products;
economic and market conditions may worsen; and market shifts may
require a change in strategic focus.
A more complete discussion of the risks and
uncertainties facing Arbutus appears in Arbutus' Annual Report on
Form 10-K and Arbutus' continuous disclosure filings, which are
available at www.sedar.com and at www.sec.gov. All
forward-looking statements herein are qualified in their entirety
by this cautionary statement, and Arbutus disclaims any obligation
to revise or update any such forward-looking statements or to
publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the
forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect future
results, events or developments, except as required by law.
Contact Information
InvestorsMark J. MurrayPresident and CEOPhone:
604-419-3200Email: ir@arbutusbio.com
MediaPam Murphy Investor Relations Consultant
Phone: 604-419-3200 Email: ir@arbutusbio.com
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