MIGRAGEN APPOINTS DR. LUCIO A.A. VAN ROOIJEN AS PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Tuebingen,
September 4, 2002 Migragen
AG is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Lucio A.A. van Rooijen as
President and Chief Executive Officer with effect from 1st
September. Migragen is an emerging biopharmaceutical company focused in
the areas of CNS injury, degenerative CNS
diseases and brain tumors.
Dr.
van Rooijen has a long-standing and broad experience in the pharmaceutical
and biotech industries across large international, mid-size and start-up
companies. Prior to this appointment he was VP business development and
board member of Xzillion, a proteomics solution provider, which was part
of the Aventis group. Previously he has served as executive VP business
development of a pharmaceutical contract sales force organization (Pharma
Rent) and President and CEO of a pioneering start-up subsidiary
(innovation broker) of a German private university (UWH). Prior to 1996 he
worked for 12 years at the pharmaceutical division of Bayer AG (Germany)
where he held various international management positions and functions in
preclinical research, drug development, marketing, sales, controlling,
country and project management. He also served on several divisional
interdisciplinary and strategic international task forces.
Commenting
on his appointment Dr. Lucio van Rooijen said:
"I
am delighted and excited to be joining such an excellent team and I am
looking forward to the challenge of leading Migragen to realize its
potential and reach its goals. The
company has pioneered new
approaches in the development of therapeutics that stimulate the growth of
nerve fibers or block tumor cell invasion in neighboring tissues. Its lead
compounds target intracellular signaling molecules and are the most potent
nerve regeneration-stimulating factors yet discovered.”
Dr.
van Rooijen holds a PhD in biochemistry / neurochemistry from the
University of Utrecht, NL and performed pre- and postdoctoral research at
the National Institute of Public Health, NL, the University of Michigan,
USA and the Louisiana State University, USA. He is an author of numerous
publications and a member of various international scientific, marketing,
venture capital and business societies.
Dr.
Alexandra Goll, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Migragen and partner
at investors TechnoVenture Management said:
"We
are pleased that Dr. van Rooijen has joined the executive team at Migragen.
His broad experience will be invaluable for Migragen through its next
stage of development as it matures into a biopharmaceutical company."
Dr.
Bernhard Mueller, principal co-founder, Chief Scientific Officer and
acting CEO since the foundation of Migragen will now focus full time on
his scientific responsibilities as CSO. He welcomed Dr. van Rooijen to the
team, commenting:
"The
appointment of Dr. van Rooijen is a major step forward for Migragen in its
development. I look forward to an exiting collaboration and to focusing on
leading our discovery of new biological and chemical lead compounds."
-
ends -
Migragen
AG
www.migragen.com
Based
at the Max Planck campus in Tuebingen,
Germany, Migragen is a venture-backed biopharmaceutical
founded in 2000. The company is committed to the discovery and
development of therapeutics for the treatment of areas of high unmet
medical need in CNS injury, degenerative CNS diseases and brain tumors.
Migragen’s mission is to pioneer the field of spinal cord and brain
injuries, by providing the medical community with extremely potent, novel
biologicals and small molecular drugs and to become the leading company in
these indications thereby creating and increasing shareholder value.
The
company has pioneered new approaches in the development of therapeutics
that stimulate the growth of nerve fibers or block tumor cell invasion in
neighboring tissues. Both approaches are based on the activation or
inhibition of important regulators of cell migration occurring naturally
in the body. Migragen's leading compounds target intracellular signaling
molecules and are the most potent nerve regeneration-stimulating factors
yet discovered. Its lead development program is a treatment for spinal
cord injury, which may also have additional potential in brain injury,
brain tumors, inflammatory and neurodegenerative brain diseases.
Contact
details:
Migragen
AG
72076
Tuebingen
Germany
Phone:
+49-7071-6884-0
Fax:
+49-7071-6884-10
Media
enquiries:
Charles
Consultants
Sue
Charles, Managing Partner
Tel:
+44 (0)20 7321 3872
Mobile:
+44 (0)7968 726585
E-mail:
sue@charlesconsultants.co.uk
or
Caroline
Stupnicka, Account Executive
Tel:
+44 (0)20 7321 3874
E-mail:
caroline@charlesconsultants.co.uk
Migragen:
Dr.
Lucio A.A. van Rooijen
President
and CEO
Tel:
+49-7071-6884-0
E-mail:
Lucio.vanRooijen@Migragen.de
Dr.
Alexandra Goll
Chairman
of the Supervisory Board of Migragen AG
E-mail:
goll@tvmvc.de
