Tuesday December 02 2008 | Biotechnology feed | All feeds
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Tuesday December 02 2008 | Biotechnology feed | All feeds
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Morphochem appoints Sijmen de Vries as CEO Munich,
Germany, 12th July 2004….
Morphochem AG, a leader in the evolutionary discovery of small molecule drugs
has announced the strengthening of its management team with the appointment of
Sijmen de Vries, MD, MBA as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Dr
de Vries brings to Morphochem extensive senior level experience in both the
pharmaceutical industry and the biotechnology sector, most recently as Head
Global Business Development and Licensing for Novartis Ophthalmics. Previously
at Novartis Pharma, Dr de Vries held the position of Global Brand Director for
Gastroenterology. Prior to Novartis, Dr de Vries held a number of senior
positions including CEO of a biotech start-up, the Rademacher Group Ltd,
Director Market Development Europe and Director Augmentin/Anti-infective
products at SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals. Dr de Vries currently also holds
Non-executive Director positions in three private companies. Commenting
on Dr Vries’ appointment, Dr Max Link, Chairman of the board said: “We
at Morphochem are delighted to welcome Dr de Vries. He has outstanding
leadership skills and a proven commercial track record. His experience will help
the Company progress its two most advanced products MCM17, an oral Factor Xa
inhibitor and Oxaquin®, a dual action antibiotic targeting hospital
acquired infections, into clinical trials. Dr de Vries’ talents will also be
invaluable in helping the Company secure co-development or option partners for
further clinical development of its advanced products as well as partners for
early stage products and technology deals for MOREsystem®, our
proprietary chemical genomics drug discovery engine.” Commenting
on his appointment, Dr de Vries said: “I
look forward to working with the Morphochem team to progress the Company to its
next stage of development. We will focus on getting partners to utilize the
Company’s powerful chemistry platform, which has already delivered an
impressive range of therapeutic molecules.”
Morphochem
AG
was founded in 1998 and currently employs 45 staff in Munich, Germany and Basel,
Switzerland. It has developed a unique and highly integrated chemical genomics
drug discovery platform that it is applying to the development of a pipeline of
drugs for unmet medical needs in major areas of indications such as thrombosis
and infectious diseases as well as partnering its technology with others. Morphochem has raised €84.7 million from a world class syndicate of investors including Techno Venture Management (TVM), Alta Berkeley, Alta California, Life Science Partners, Merlin Biosciences, Nomura International, West LB Panmure, 3i Bioscience Investment Trust, 3i Group, Domain Associates, Mayfield Fund, Viscardi, IKB Venture Capital, Süd VC, KB Lux, Bank Julius Bär, Bionex Investments, and others including federal and state government sources. For further information please contact:
At Morphochem: Dr
Sijmen de Vries, CEO E-mail: sijmen.devries@morphochem.com
Northbank Communications Dr Eileen Paul, Account Manager Tel:
+44 (0)1260 296516
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