LEIDEN, Netherlands,
March 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --
Pharming Group N.V. ("Pharming" or "the Company") (Euronext
Amsterdam: PHARM) (Nasdaq: PHAR) announces the intention to
nominate Steven Baert, Leon Kruimer and Jabine van der Meijs as
Non-Executive Directors to the Board. Their official appointments
will be confirmed by the Company's Annual General Meeting of
Shareholders that will be held on 19 May
2021. Until that moment, Steven
Baert, Leon Kruimer and
Jabine van der Meijs will hold observational roles on the Board of
Directors. Steven, Leon and Jabine will be replacing Juergen Ernst who stepped down in November 2020 and Aad de
Winter and Barrie Ward, both
of whom cannot be re-elected due to the maximum term of office for
Non-Executive Directors according to the Dutch Corporate Governance
Code.
Paul Sekhri, Chairman of the
Board of Directors, commented:
"We are delighted to nominate Steven
Baert, Leon Kruimer and
Jabine van der Meijs as Non-Executive Directors to the Board. Their
extensive global experience in finance, strategic and
organisational development across multinational organisations and
different industries will complement and further strengthen the
existing expertise and diversity of our Board as Pharming continues
to execute against its ambitious growth strategy, following a
recent secondary Nasdaq listing in the US."
Steven Baert
Steven Baert is the Chief People
Officer and a member of the Executive Committee of Novartis AG
(SWX: NOVN) since 2014. Steven joined Novartis in 2006 and has held
a number of leadership roles within the company, including Head of
Human Resources, Global Functions, Switzerland, Head of Human Resources for
Emerging Growth Markets, Head of Human Resources, United States and Canada, and Global Head, Human Resources,
Novartis Oncology. Prior to joining Novartis, Steven held senior HR
positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Unilever.
Steven holds a Master of Business Administration from the
Vlerick Business School, Gent; a Master of Laws from the Katholieke
Universiteit Leuven and a Bachelor of Laws from the Katholieke
Universiteit Brussels. Steven also serves on the Board of the
WeSeeHope USA, a charity that
focuses on empowering children isolated by poverty in Africa.
Leon Kruimer
Leon Kruimer has more than 30
years of experience in corporate finance, planning and strategy,
including 20 years in senior executive positions in private and
publicly listed biotechnology companies. Leonard served as CFO of
Crucell N.V. from 1997 to 2011. Prior to Crucell, he was Managing
Director of Europe TIP Trailer, a GE Capital company. He was also a
consultant with McKinsey & Co and an auditor at Price
Waterhouse & Company, New
York.
Leon is currently Chairman of the Board at Swedish BioInvent
International AB (BINV.ST). In addition, he is a board member of
both Zealand Pharma A/S in Copenhagen and Calgary-based Oncolytics Inc
(NASDAQ: ONCY). He is Director of AI Global Investments
(Netherlands) PCC Ltd. and serves
on the Investment Advisory Council of Karmijn Kapitaal. Leonard
holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and is Certified Public
Accountant in New York State.
As financial expert, Leon Kruimer
is intended to succeed Aad de Winter
as Chair of the Audit Committee, subject to his appointment as
Non-Executive Director
Jabine van der Meijs
Jabine served as the Executive Vice President & CFO of the
Royal Schiphol Group from 2017 until end of March 2021. Prior to this, Jabine worked for the
Royal Dutch Shell Group (ENXTAM: RDSA) for 25 years in primarily
financial leadership positions, but also in HR and strategy
positions in The Netherlands,
Scotland, England, Brunei and Australia. In her most recent position at
Shell, she was VP Finance Projects for Shell's Projects and
Technology business.
Jabine is currently a Member of the Supervisory Board of
Kendrion N.V. (ENXTAM: KENDR) where she serves as Chair of the
Audit Committee. She is a Member of the Supervisory Board of Koole
Terminals Holding B.V., where she serves as the Chair of the People
& Remuneration Committee and she was also recently nominated to
join the board of directors of Grundfos Holding, a privately owned
Danish Company.
Previously, Jabine served as a Non-Executive Director on various
boards, including Aeroports de Paris
(France) (ENXTPA: ADP) and Brisbane Airport Corporation
(Australia). Jabine holds a Master
of Science (Pharmacy) and a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm D) degree
from the University of Utrecht,
and she completed her professional accounting degree in the UK with
the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (ACMA).
About Pharming Group N.V.
Pharming Group N.V. is a global, commercial stage
biopharmaceutical company developing innovative protein replacement
therapies and precision medicines for the treatment of rare
diseases and unmet medical needs.
The flagship of our portfolio is our recombinant human C1
esterase inhibitor (rhC1INH) franchise. C1INH is a naturally
occurring protein that down regulates the complement cascade in
order to control inflammation in affected tissues.
Our lead product, RUCONEST®, is the first and only plasma-free
rhC1INH protein replacement therapy. It is approved for the
treatment of acute hereditary angioedema (HAE) attacks. We are
commercializing RUCONEST® in the United
States, the European Union and the United Kingdom through our own sales and
marketing organization, and the rest of the world through our
distribution network.
In addition, we are investigating the clinical efficacy of
rhC1INH in the treatment of further indications, including
pre-eclampsia, acute kidney injury and severe pneumonia as a result
of COVID-19 infections.
We are also studying our oral precision medicine, leniolisib (a
phosphoinositide 3-kinase delta, or PI3K delta, inhibitor), for the
treatment of activated PI3K delta syndrome, or APDS, in a
registration enabling Phase 2/3 study in the United States and Europe.
Furthermore, we are leveraging our transgenic manufacturing
technology to develop next-generation protein replacement
therapies, most notably for Pompe disease, which is currently in
preclinical development.
Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements,
including with respect to timing and progress of Pharming's
preclinical studies and clinical trials of its product candidates,
Pharming's clinical and commercial prospects, Pharming's ability to
overcome the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to the
conduct of its business, and Pharming's expectations regarding its
projected working capital requirements and cash resources, which
statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and
assumptions, including, but not limited to the scope, progress and
expansion of Pharming's clinical trials and ramifications for the
cost thereof; and clinical, scientific, regulatory and technical
developments. In light of these risks and uncertainties, and other
risks and uncertainties that are described in Pharming's 2019
Annual Report and its report for the nine months ended 30 September 2020, the events and circumstances
discussed in such forward-looking statements may not occur, and
Pharming's actual results could differ materially and adversely
from those anticipated or implied thereby. Any forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are
based on information available to Pharming as of the date of this
release.
Inside Information
This press release relates to the disclosure of information
that qualifies, or may have qualified, as inside information within
the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse
Regulation.
For further public information, contact:
Pharming
Group, Leiden, The
Netherlands
Sijmen de Vries, CEO: T: +31 71 524
7400
Susanne Embleton, Investor Relations
Manager: T: +31 71 524 7400, E: s.embleton@pharming.com
FTI Consulting, London,
UK
Victoria Foster
Mitchell/Alex
Shaw/Mary Whittow
T: +44 203 727 1000
LifeSpring Life Sciences Communication, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Leon
Melens
T: +31 6 53 81 64 27
E: pharming@lifespring.nl
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