Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Announces Appointment of Roger J. Lias, Ph.D., as President and Chief Executive Officer
December 26 2017 - 8:05AM
Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPHM) (NASDAQ:PPHMP), a
company committed to improving patient lives by manufacturing and
delivering high quality biologics, today announced the appointment
of Roger J. Lias, Ph.D., as the company’s new president and chief
executive officer. Dr. Lias, who has more than 20 years of
contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO)
management experience, currently sits on the Peregrine board of
directors and serves as president of Avid Bioservices, Peregrine’s
wholly-owned CDMO subsidiary. Dr. Lias succeeds Steven W.
King, who resigned as president and chief executive officer of
Peregrine to pursue other professional interests.
Dr. Lias’ appointment is an important step in
Peregrine’s ongoing transition to a dedicated CDMO and builds upon
the company’s recent appointment of several proven CDMO industry
veterans to the company’s board and management team. As part of
this transformation, Peregrine is actively implementing a
multi-pronged strategic plan designed to diversify and broaden its
customer base and project mix, expand and strengthen its CDMO
service offerings, and drive increased growth and
profitability. Additionally, Peregrine is in the process of
officially changing the company’s name to Avid Bioservices and
adopting a new NASDAQ ticker symbol. The company expects this
process to be completed in early 2018.
“We believe that Roger is best equipped to lead
Peregrine, including the completion of the company’s transition to
a pure play CDMO operating under the Avid Bioservices name.
With the demand for biologics manufacturing exceeding the
industry’s current capacity and expected to continue to grow in
coming years, Roger and his team have worked aggressively to
establish a strategic plan that we anticipate will allow the
company to take advantage of this significant market opportunity.
The team has already made important progress implementing
this plan and we look forward to their continued execution of the
strategy to best position our CDMO business for success,” said
Joseph Carleone, Ph.D., chairman of Peregrine. “We would like
to thank Steve King for the important contributions that he has
made to both the Peregrine and Avid businesses and wish him luck
with his future endeavors.”
Dr. Lias has previously held senior management
positions at several leading CDMOs including Cytovance Biologics,
KBI BioPharma, Diosynth RTP (formerly Covance Biotechnology
Services) and Lonza Biologics. At each of these companies, he was
primarily charged with overseeing commercial operations, including
growing and diversifying their respective client bases. During this
time, Dr. Lias’ achievements ranged from building start-up
Cytovance’s contract process development and biopharmaceutical cGMP
production business, to increasing revenues at Diosynth from $16
million to $120 million over a four-year period.
About Peregrine Pharmaceuticals,
Inc.Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a company
transitioning from an R&D focused business to a pure play
contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO).
Peregrine's in-house CDMO services, including cGMP manufacturing
and development capabilities, are provided through its wholly-owned
subsidiary Avid Bioservices, Inc. (www.avidbio.com).
Peregrine is pursuing the licensing or sale of
its proprietary R&D assets, including its lead immunotherapy
candidate, bavituximab, which is currently being evaluated in
clinical trials in combination with immune stimulating therapies
for the treatment of various cancers. For more information,
please visit www.peregrineinc.com .
About Avid Bioservices,
Inc. Avid Bioservices, a wholly owned subsidiary
of Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, provides a comprehensive range
of process development, high quality cGMP clinical and commercial
manufacturing services for the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical
industries. With nearly 25 years of experience producing
monoclonal antibodies and recombinant proteins in batch, fed-batch
and perfusion modes, Avid's services include cGMP clinical and
commercial product manufacturing, purification, bulk packaging,
stability testing and regulatory strategy, submission and
support. The company also provides a variety of process
development activities, including cell line development and
optimization, cell culture and feed optimization, analytical
methods development and product characterization. For more
information about Avid, please visit www.avidbio.com.
Safe Harbor
Statement: Statements in this press release which are
not purely historical, including statements
regarding Peregrine Pharmaceuticals' intentions, hopes,
beliefs, expectations, representations, projections, plans or
predictions of the future are forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
The forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties
including, but not limited to, the risk the company may experience
delays in completing its transition to a dedicated CDMO business,
including delays in the its efforts to license or sell its R&D
assets, the risk that the company will be unable to license or sell
its R&D assets, the risk that the company will experience
delays in implementing its strategic plan, the risk that the
company will not be able to take advantage of the demand for
biologics manufacturing, the risk that the company will be unable
to raise additional capital during the remainder of the current
fiscal year in order to fund Avid's operations, or that it will be
able to raise capital on terms acceptable to the company, the risk
that Avid may experience technical difficulties in processing
customer orders which could delay delivery of products to
customers, revenue recognition and receipt of payment, and the risk
that one or more existing Avid customers terminates its contract
prior to completion or reduces or delays its demand for
manufacturing services. Our business could be affected by a
number of other factors, including the risk factors listed from
time to time in our reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission including, but not limited to, our annual
report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 30,
2017 as well as any updates to these risk factors filed from
time to time in the company's other filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company cautions
investors not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking
statements contained in this press release. Peregrine
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. disclaims any obligation, and does not
undertake to update or revise any forward-looking statements in
this press release.
Contacts:
Stephanie Diaz (Investors)
Vida Strategic Partners
415-675-7401
sdiaz@vidasp.com
Tim Brons (Media)
Vida Strategic Partners
415-675-7402
tbrons@vidasp.com
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