-- Scott McMillan Named Chief Operating Officer
--
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 uniQureuniQure 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
StatementsThis 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
uniQure NV (NASDAQ:QURE)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
uniQure NV (NASDAQ:QURE)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024