-- Scott McMillan Named Chief
Operating Officer --
-- Sander van Deventer Named Chief
Scientific Officer, General Manager, Amsterdam --
-- Christian Klemt Promoted to
Chief Accounting Officer --
-- Jeremy Springhorn and Madhavan
Balachandran Nominated to Board of Directors --
-- Extraordinary Shareholder's
Meeting to Appoint New Directors Scheduled for September 14 --
LEXINGTON, Mass. and AMSTERDAM,
the Netherlands, Aug. 07, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE)
-- uniQure N.V. (NASDAQ:QURE), a leader in human gene
therapy and AAV manufacturing, today announced new executive
appointments to its Leadership Team and nominations to its Board of
Directors. These actions further uniQure's expansion in the United
States and add additional expertise in gene therapy research,
development, operations, manufacturing and commercial
readiness.
Photos accompanying this announcement are
available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/643d685c-7061-49ef-8380-505f48940859
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/af4c8bfb-e2ef-4a0e-85e4-1f77b837d89c
Appointment
of Scott McMillan, Ph.D., as Chief Operating Officer
Scott McMillan, Ph.D., joins
uniQure with more than 25 years of biotechnology experience in
quality, process development, scale-up, technology transfer from
bench to commercial scale as well as manufacturing operations for a
variety of active pharmaceutical ingredients and finished
drug products including small molecules, proteins, antibodies
and vaccines. Dr. McMillan will be responsible for all
current Good Manufacturing Process (cGMP) activities at
uniQure and all product development functions. He will be based in
the Company's Lexington, Massachusetts facility and will report to
Matt Kapusta, chief executive officer of uniQure.
"Scott brings to uniQure a strong
track record of operational excellence that is highly relevant for
uniQure as we ramp up GMP production to support our pivotal program
in hemophilia B and advance our other gene therapy candidates into
the clinic," said Matt Kapusta. "Scott's broad experience in
operations and manufacturing will be instrumental as we further
strengthen our leadership position in the production of AAV-based
gene therapies," he added.
Dr. McMillan served most recently
as Senior Vice President of Quality and Technical Operations at
AMAG Pharmaceuticals where he also was a member of its Executive
Management Team. Dr. McMillan held similar positions at AVANT
Immunotherapeutics, Inc., and with Johnson Matthey Pharmaceutical
Materials, Inc. He earned a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from
Georgia Institute of Technology, a Master's degree in Economics and
Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of
Delaware.
Appointment
of Sander van Deventer, M.D., Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer
and General Manager, Amsterdam
Sander van Deventer, a co-founder
of uniQure and Board member since 2010, will succeed Harald Petry,
Ph.D. as Chief Scientific Officer, effective immediately, and
report directly to Mr. Kapusta. Dr. van Deventer will also resign
from the Board of Directors upon the appointment by the
shareholders of his replacement, which is expected to occur on
September 14, 2017.
"The addition of Sander to our
executive team allows us to take full advantage of his pioneering
leadership and expertise in the field of gene therapy, as well as
intimate knowledge of uniQure's technology and pipeline," stated
Mr. Kapusta. "Sander shares our tireless commitment to deliver the
promise of gene therapy to patients, and I am truly delighted to
continue working with him in this new role. The breadth and depth
of his experience will be invaluable as we advance our programs and
build a leading gene therapy product company."
Dr. van Deventer is currently
Managing Partner at Forbion Capital Partners and Professor of
Translational Gastroenterology at Leiden University Medical Center
in Leiden. He is a trained internist and board-certified
gastroenterologist. He received a Ph.D. from the University of
Amsterdam, and became Director of the Laboratory for Experimental
Internal Medicine at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam in
1995.
"On behalf of the company's Board
of Directors, leadership team and employees, I would like to
express our sincere gratitude to Harald for his enormous
contributions during the last decade of growth and transition at
uniQure," added Mr. Kapusta. "Dr. Petry's accomplishments include
the establishment of a world class research team, the
identification of new gene therapy candidates, development of new
AAV serotypes and promoters and the creation of a successful
re-administration protocol. These accomplishments would not have
been possible without Harald's dedicated leadership, and we wish
him the best as he retires from uniQure."
Promotion of
Christian Klemt to Chief Accounting Officer
Christian Klemt has been promoted
from Global Controller to Chief Accounting Officer. Since joining
uniQure in 2015, Christian has transformed the Finance and
Accounting functions at uniQure, dramatically improved the internal
control environment and enhanced the financial planning and
analysis functions. Christian also oversaw the Company's transition
to a domestic U.S. filer and conversion to U.S. Generally Accepted
Accounting Principles. Christian holds a Master's degree in
Business Administration from the University of Muenster, Germany
and is qualified as a German Certified Public Accountant and Tax
Advisor.
Nominations
of Mr. Madhavan Balachandran and Dr. Jeremy P. Springhorn to Board
of Directors
The Company announces the
nominations of Mr. Madhavan Balachandran and Dr. Jeremy P.
Springhorn, Ph.D., to its Board of Directors. An Extraordinary
General Meeting of Shareholders (EGM) will be held on Thursday,
September 14, 2017 for purposes of considering their elections to
the Board. As previously disclosed, Will Lewis will be resigning
from the Board of Directors effective at the EGM.
"I am very pleased to welcome
Madhu and Jeremy, two seasoned and accomplished executives, to our
Board of Directors at this exciting time for uniQure," stated
Philip Astley-Sparke, chairman of uniQure's Board of Directors.
"With the additions of Madhu and Jeremy, we are increasing the
breadth of strategic leadership, industry experience and
operational excellence on our Board of Directors. On behalf of the
full Board, I would like to thank Will for his significant
contributions to the Company over the past three years and Sander
for his contributions as a member of the Board. It has been a
pleasure to serve with both of them."
Mr. Balachandran is a
pharmaceutical industry executive and has more than 40 years of
experience in manufacturing and operations. He was previously with
Amgen Inc., where he served as Executive Vice President of
Operations, overseeing global operations and reporting directly to
the CEO. Mr. Balachandran held similar positions at Copley
Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Burroughs Wellcome Co. Mr. Balachandran
holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from East
Carolina University, a Master's degree in Chemical Engineering from
State University of New York and a Bachelor's degree in Technology
from Indian Institute of Technology.
Dr. Springhorn is an industry
veteran with 25 years of experience in leading scientific, business
development, and corporate strategy organizations. Dr. Springhorn
currently serves as Partner of Corporate Development with Flagship
Pioneering and was previously at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., as
Vice President, Corporate Development. Dr. Springhorn holds a Ph.D.
in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Louisiana State
University Medical Center and a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry and
Biochemistry from Colby College.
Inducement
Grants Under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4)
As an inducement material to
entering into employment with uniQure, the Company will grant to
Dr. McMillan, subject to approval by the Board of Directors at the
next regularly scheduled meeting, an option to purchase 150,000
ordinary shares of the Company. The exercise price will be the
closing ordinary share price on the date of grant. The options
shall vest over a four-year period, under which 25% of the shares
will vest after 12 months of employment, with the remaining shares
vesting quarterly thereafter over the remaining 36-month period,
subject to the employee's continuous service. The stock options are
subject to the terms and conditions of the Company's 2014 Incentive
Share Plan, as amended, and the terms and conditions of the stock
option agreement covering such grant.
About
uniQure
uniQure is delivering on the promise of gene therapy - single
treatments with potentially curative results. We are leveraging our
modular and validated technology platform to rapidly advance a
pipeline of proprietary and partnered gene therapies to treat
patients with CNS, liver/metabolic and cardiovascular
diseases. www.uniQure.com
uniQure
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking
statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact
are forward-looking statements, which are often indicated by terms
such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect,"
"goal," "intend," "look forward to", "may," "plan," "potential,"
"predict," "project," "should," "will," "would" and similar
expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on management's
beliefs and assumptions and on information available to management
only as of the date of this press release. These forward-looking
statements include, but are not limited to, the development of our
gene therapy product candidates, the success of our collaborations
and the risk of cessation, delay or lack of success of any of our
ongoing or planned clinical studies and/or development of our
product candidates. Our actual results could differ materially from
those anticipated in these forward-looking statements for many
reasons, including, without limitation, risks associated with
corporate reorganizations and strategic shifts, collaboration
arrangements, our and our collaborators' clinical development
activities, regulatory oversight, product commercialization and
intellectual property claims, as well as the risks, uncertainties
and other factors described under the heading "Risk Factors" in
uniQure's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on May 9, 2017. Given
these risks, uncertainties and other factors, you should not place
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, and we assume
no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, even if
new information becomes available in the future.
The photos are also available via
AP PhotoExpress.
uniQure Contacts:
FOR INVESTORS:
Maria E. Cantor
Direct: 339-970-7536
Mobile: 617-680-9452
m.cantor@uniQure.com
Eva M. Mulder
Direct: +31 20 240 6103
Mobile: +31 6 52 33 15 79
e.mulder@uniQure.com
FOR MEDIA:
Tom Malone
Direct: 339-970-7558
Mobile: 339-223-8541
t.malone@uniQure.com
This
announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf
of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely
responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the
information contained therein.
Source: uniQure N.V. via Globenewswire
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