Symphogen has held an extraordinary general meeting, where a number of changes to the Board of Directors were approved to support the Company’s development and future financing.
Mr. Bernhard Ehmer was newly elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Ehmer brings more than 30 years of experience from the global pharmaceutical industry to the Company, mainly within oncology.
In addition, the following persons were newly elected to Symphogen’s Board of Directors: Peter Haahr, CFO of Novo Holdings; Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, EVP and Chief Science Officer of Novo Nordisk A/S; as well as Søren Lemonius, founding partner of Sunstone Capital.
As of today, the Board of Directors is composed of the following:
- Bernhard Ehmer, newly elected Chairman
- Jeppe Christiansen, re-elected, newly appointed Deputy Chairman
- Peter Haahr, newly elected member
- Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, newly elected member
- Søren Lemonius, newly elected member
- Ron Eastman, re-elected
- John B. Landis, re-elected
- Anders Tullgren, re-elected
Bernhard Ehmer has been overseeing the development and registration of several antibody-based oncology therapeutics, including Erbitux®, and thus possesses vast drug development experience in oncology and other therapeutic areas. He said: “I look forward to deploy my knowledge and experience to support Symphogen’s journey towards commercialization of the Company’s novel combination treatments. Especially, I look forward to the cooperation with the Board of Directors and Management Team to bring Symphogen towards the next milestones.”
Stepping down from the Board of Directors is Göran Ando, the Company’s Chairman since 2011, Kirsten Drejer, Symphogen’s founder and former CEO for 16 years, as well as Christoffer Søderberg, Jeffrey H. Buchalter and Martin Olin, the current CEO.
Newly appointed Deputy Chairman, Jeppe Christiansen said: “On behalf of the previous Board of Directors and the shareholders, I would like to thank Kirsten Drejer and Göran Ando for their invaluable contributions to Symphogen, now standing as a testament to the fact that when science, courage and innovation go hand in hand, something truly unique can be created. Under their leadership, Symphogen developed into an oncology-focused company, now with a deep pipeline of promising product candidates. For a decade and a half, Kirsten was the epitome of Symphogen, and we are pleased that, after stepping down from her role as CEO to Martin Olin in 2016, she undertook to ensure that the transfer was conducted in the best way possible. That transition has now been completed.”
About the new Chairman, Bernhard Ehmer
Bernhard Ehmer (born 1955, German citizen) is CEO of Biotest AG since January 2015. Prior to this, he worked for the Imclone Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly, as president of Imclone Systems Corporation in the United States and as managing director in Germany. Between 2007 and 2008, Bernhard Ehmer was CEO of Fresenius Biotech, Germany. He previously headed the Business Area Oncology of Merck KgaA in Darmstadt and before that he was head of “Global Clinical Operations” at Merck. Between 1986 and 1998, he held various functions at Boehringer Mannheim in Germany, Italy and Singapore. Bernhard Ehmer holds a degree in medicine and worked in Internal Medicine at the Academic Teaching Hospital of the University of Heidelberg with focus on Cardiology/Intensive Care until he joined the pharmaceutical industry in 1986.
About Symphogen
Symphogen is a biopharmaceutical Company focused on antibody mixtures for therapeutic use in oncology. The Company’s innovative combination therapies, where antibodies are mixed in a single drug product, are expected to be used primarily as a precision medicine approach in oncology and other therapeutic areas. Symphogen’s differentiated clinical pipeline of seven product candidates and the significant pre-clinical pipeline are based on the Company’s proprietary technology platform. The Company has collaborations for the development of antibody therapeutics in immuno-oncology with Shire and in the infectious disease area with Genentech. Symphogen has offices in Denmark and New Jersey. Major shareholders include EW Healthcare Partners, Novo Holdings A/S, PKA, LD, Sunstone Capital, Gilde Healthcare and Danica Pension. For more information, please visit www.symphogen.com.
For further information, please contact:
Martin Olin, Chief Executive Officer
T: +45 40 21 85 32
E: mol@symphogen.com