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Pharming Group N.V. (AMS:PHARM) Leiden, The Netherlands, October 13, 2008. Biotech company Pharming Group NV ("Pharming" or "The Company") (Euronext: PHARM) announced today the appointment of Dr Sijmen de Vries as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pharming. This decision was taken by the Shareholders at an Extraordinary Meeting (EGM) held earlier today. Dr de Vries will take up his position as of November 3, 2008 as successor to Dr Francis J. Pinto who will retire at the next Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) of the Company in 2009. Until then, Dr Pinto will stay on as Non-Executive Chairman of the Management Board to ensure a smooth transition.
Sijmen de Vries, MD, MBA, is a 48-year old Dutch national, with extensive senior level experience in both the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. He joins Pharming from Swiss-based 4-Antibody where he was CEO. Dr de Vries has also been CEO of Morphochem and prior to this spent many years at Novartis and at SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals where he held senior business and commercial positions. Dr de Vries also holds non-executive directorships in two private life science companies.
"I am very excited by the opportunity that Pharming presents," said Dr de Vries. "The Company, with late stage products moving towards the market, plays to my strengths in global strategic marketing and commercialization. I have strong confidence in the technologies and products that are being developed by Pharming and believe that I can contribute to the success of these commercial opportunities based on my experience built in pharma and biotech companies."
Dr Pinto commented: "Pharming is delighted to attract a CEO like Sijmen at this stage of the Company's development. I have great confidence in Pharming's ability to pursue the opportunities that lie ahead under his leadership and I am looking forward to working together in the coming months for a successful handover."
A transition plan will be put in place to focus on optimising the key aspects of Pharming's business. This plan includes a number of task forces for the period leading up to the next AGM:
* The Rhucin® task force will be led by Dr Giannetti, focusing on the upcoming Rhucin® filings; * The DNage task force will focus on the development and partnering of the DNage ageing products and will be led by Dr Strijker; * The task force "Financing and Shareholder Value" led by Dr Pinto will be addressing the future financing of Pharming; and * The task force further developing the Pharming organization and 2009 plans and budgets will be led by Dr de Vries.
Mr Jaap Blaak, Chairman of Pharming's Board of Supervisory Directors said: "We are very pleased that the Shareholders have agreed to the appointment of Dr de Vries for the position of CEO of Pharming. His medical background and strong commercial track record will be a valuable addition to the management of Pharming. Dr de Vries has extensive international business development and strategic marketing experience which will be of utmost importance to us as we focus on the commercialisation of our lead products.
We are very grateful to Dr Pinto who became CEO of the Company in the most difficult period of its existence and brought it where it is today. Under his leadership, Pharming has made a remarkable turnaround and is close to having its first products on the market. During his seven years as CEO, Dr Pinto was instrumental in raising funds for Pharming and remains a committed shareholder. We have asked Dr Pinto to head the financing taskforce and are delighted that he has agreed to remain associated with the Company to ensure a smooth transition."
At the EGM, the majority of the Shareholders also voted in favour of the proposed option arrangements for the CEO and the COO of Pharming, and the adaptation of the remuneration of the BOSD members. The amendment of the Articles of Association of the Company was accepted and authorisation was given to effect the amendment of the Articles of Association, which can be found on Pharming's website.
About Pharming Group NV Pharming Group NV is developing innovative products for the treatment of genetic disorders, ageing diseases, specialty products for surgical indications, intermediates for various applications and nutritional products. Pharming has two products in late stage development - Rhucin® for Hereditary Angioedema and human lactoferrin for use in food products. The advanced technologies of the Company include innovative platforms for the production of protein therapeutics, technology and processes for the purification and formulation of these products, as well as technology in the field of DNA repair (via DNage). Additional information is available on the Pharming website, http://www.pharming.com.
This press release contains forward looking statements that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward looking statements. The press release also appears in Dutch. In the event of any inconsistency, the English version will prevail over the Dutch version.
Contact:
Carina Hamaker, Investor Voice, T: +31 (0)6 537 499 59 or T: +31 (0)71 52 47 400 Julia Phillips (UK), Financial Dynamics, T: +44 (0)20 7269 7187 or T: +44 (0)7770 827 263 Samir Singh (US), Pharming Group NV, T: +1 908 720 6224 Rein Strijker, Pharming Group NV, T: +31 (0)71 52 47 400
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