|
||
| |||||||
|
ROLF STAHEL APPOINTED AS CHAIRMAN OF POWDERMED - Former CEO of Shire Pharmaceuticals Brings Extensive Experience in Building Pharmaceutical Companies - Oxford, UK, 20th February 2005 – PowderMed Ltd, a Company focusing on the development of immunotherapeutics has announced that it has appointed Rolf Stahel as non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr Stahel brings to PowderMed extensive experience in building successful pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, most notably as Chief Executive of Shire Pharmaceuticals Group plc. Mr Stahel was Chief Executive of Shire from 1994 till March 2003. During his tenure at Shire, he managed six mergers and acquisitions and helped build the company from a loss making private company to a global pharmaceutical company with a market capitalisation of more than US$3 billion and 1800 employees. Prior to joining Shire, Mr Stahel spent more than 27 years with Wellcome plc advancing through various managerial positions in sales & marketing in the UK, Switzerland, Italy, Thailand and Singapore. His long history at Wellcome culminated with the global, UK-based role as Director of Group Marketing. Welcoming Rolf as the new Chairman, Clive Dix, CEO of PowderMed commented: “We are very pleased to have attracted Rolf Stahel to join PowderMed. Rolf brings both the strategic vision and the experience to help us build a world leading immunotherapeutics business.” Commenting on his appointment, Mr Stahel said: “In the first year of operation, PowderMed has introduced three DNA based immunotherapeutics to the clinic targeting areas of huge unmet clinical need like genital herpes, HIV and cancer. I am excited by the prospects for this relatively new company and delighted to be joining them to help drive the Company forward.” -ends- NOTES FOR EDITORS About PowderMed Ltd – www.powdermed.com PowderMed Ltd, based in Oxford, United Kingdom, is a leader in the development of immunotherapeutics. The Company was created through a spin-out of the powder injection technology and the DNA based immunotherapeutic and prophylactic vaccine programmes from Chiron Vaccines, a business unit of Chiron Corporation. PowderMed has acquired the rights to the PowderJect™ Particle Mediated Epidermal Delivery (PMED™) technology which it plans to use, in the first instance, in the development of DNA based immunotherapeutics targeting chronic viral diseases and cancer. PowderMed has a proprietary immunotherapeutic product for the treatment of genital herpes in Phase I trials and also two partnered Phase I programmes in Cancer (Ludwig Institute) and HIV/AIDS (GlaxoSmithKline). In addition, the Company has two proprietary preclinical lead programmes targeting genital warts and hepatitis B. In November 2004 PowderMed also announced positive Phase I results for a proprietary prophylactic DNA influenza vaccine. The Company will seek to further its technology in areas outside of its strategic focus through partnerships and collaborations. Further enquiries: Northbank Communications Ltd Dr Douglas Pretsell or Sue Charles Tel: +44 (0)20 7886 8150 Mobile: +44 (0)7930 312 925 d.pretsell@northbankcommunications.com s.charles@northbankcommunications.com PowderMed Ltd Dr Clive Dix Tel: +44 (0)1865 501 549
|
|
| ||||||||