Biota Pharmaceuticals Announces Changes to Its Board of Directors
May 06 2013 - 7:00AM
Biota Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:BOTA) ("Biota" or the
"Company"), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery
and development of anti-infective products to prevent and treat
serious and potentially life-threatening infectious diseases, today
announced changes to its Board of Directors, including the
resignations of Dr. Raafat Fahim and Mr. Paul Bell, and the
appointments of Ms. Anne M. VanLent and Mr. Michael R. Dougherty to
fill those vacancies. Ms. VanLent will serve as Chair of the
Audit Committee.
"On behalf of Biota, I want to thank Raafat and Paul for their
significant contributions toward creating the new Biota
Pharmaceuticals and positioning it for future growth," said Dr.
James Fox, Chairman of Biota Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Ms. VanLent joins Biota's Board with extensive experience in
corporate advisory and financial services roles within life
sciences. Ms. VanLent is currently the President of AMV
Advisors, an advisory firm which she founded in 2008 to provide
corporate strategy and financial consulting services to emerging
growth life science companies. Previously, Ms. VanLent was
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Barrier
Therapeutics, Inc. Prior to that, she was Executive Vice
President, Portfolio Management for Sarnoff Corporation, a
multidisciplinary research and development firm. Earlier in
her career, she served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer of The Liposome Company, Inc. Ms. VanLent also
currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Integra
LifeSciences, Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, and Tranzyme Pharma, the
latter two of which she serves as Chair of the Audit Committee.
She previously served as a member of the Board of Directors
of i-STAT Corporation and Penwest Pharmaceuticals.
Mr. Dougherty also brings to Biota significant corporate and
operational life sciences experience, having served in key
executive and director roles at several biopharmaceutical companies
over his career. Most recently, Mr. Dougherty was Chief
Executive Officer of Kalidex Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held,
venture-backed infectious disease company. Prior to Kalidex,
he served as Chief Executive Officer and a director of Adolor
Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company acquired by Cubist
Pharmaceuticals in 2011. He also served in other executive
roles at Adolor before being appointed CEO, including Chief
Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Senior Vice
President, Commercial Operations. Prior to joining Adolor, he
served in a number of executive roles, including Chief Operating
Officer of Genomics Collaborative, Chief Executive Officer, Chief
Financial Officer and a director of Genaera Corp, and Chief
Financial Officer of Centocor, Inc. Mr. Dougherty currently
serves on the Board and Chairs the Audit Committee of ViroPharma,
Inc. (Nasdaq:VPHM).
"We are very pleased to welcome Anne and Michael to our Board,"
Dr. Fox added. "Anne brings deep experience serving life
science companies at a similar stage to Biota's, as well as a
diverse skill set inclusive of financial expertise and corporate
governance. Michael has demonstrated an ability to
successfully undertake a number of strategic, operational and
financial roles over his career, oversee a novel product approval
by the FDA, and successfully direct the acquisition of Adolor.
We look forward to their respective contributions as Biota
transitions to its next stage of corporate growth."
"The addition of Anne and Michael will provide valuable
experience and perspective to me and the Board during an exciting
time for Biota as we advance our development as a leading
infectious disease company," added Russell H. Plumb, President and
Chief Executive Officer of Biota Pharmaceuticals.
About Biota
Biota Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company
focused on the discovery and development of anti-infective products
to prevent and treat a number of serious and potentially
life-threatening infectious diseases. The Company has
discovered two generations of neuraminidase inhibitors (NIs) that
have been commercialized, the first of which is zanamivir, marketed
world-wide as Relenza® by GlaxoSmithKline. The Company's
second generation NIs are referred to as long-acting neuraminidase
inhibitors (LANIs), which allow for a single inhaled treatment, as
compared to five-day, twice-daily dosing associated with first
generation inhaled or oral neuraminidase inhibitors. The
Company and Daiichi Sankyo Inc. have cross-licensed the world-wide
rights to develop and commercialize LANIs, including laninamivir
octanoate, which is marketed by Daiichi Sankyo Inc. as Inavir® in
Japan.
The Company currently has two Phase 2 clinical-stage product
candidates; laninamivir octanoate, which it is developing under an
existing contract with the U.S. Office of Biomedical Advanced
Research and Development Authority ("BARDA") to provide up to $231
million in financial support to complete the clinical development
of laninamivir octanoate for the treatment of influenza A and B
infections in the U.S. market; and vapendavir, a potent, oral
broad-spectrum capsid inhibitor of human rhinovirus (HRV). In
addition, the Company has preclinical programs focused on
developing treatments for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) as well
as for gram-negative and multi-drug resistant bacterial infections.
For additional information about the Company, please visit
www.biotapharma.com.
Biota is a registered trademark of Biota Holdings Limited.
RelenzaTM is a trademark of GlaxoSmithKline plc, Inavir® is a
registered trademark of Daiichi Sankyo Company, Ltd.
CONTACT: Russell H. Plumb
Chief Executive Officer
(678) 221-3351
r.plumb@biotapharma.com
Hershel Berry
Blueprint Life Science Group
(415) 375-3340
hberry@bplifescience.com
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