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Pharming Group N.V. (AMS:PHARM) Dr Pinto to retire after completion of transition period
Leiden, The Netherlands, September 26, 2008. Biotech company Pharming Group NV ("Pharming" or "the Company") (NYSE Euronext: PHARM) announced today that the Board of Supervisory Directors (BOSD) has nominated Dr Sijmen de Vries, currently CEO of 4-Antibody in Basel, Switzerland, for appointment as Chief Executive Officer of Pharming to succeed Dr Francis J. Pinto. After serving with the Company for almost seven years, Dr Pinto will retire from his current position as CEO. He has agreed to remain associated with Pharming and temporarily fulfill a non-executive position to ensure an orderly and 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. Prior to 4-Antibody, Dr de Vries was the CEO of Morphochem. Earlier in his career, he held numerous senior business and commercial positions at Novartis as well as at SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals. Dr de Vries also holds non-executive directorships in two private life science companies.
To ensure a smooth transition, Dr Francis Pinto has agreed to act as Non-Executive Chairman of the Management Board until the next Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) of the Company in 2009. The transition plan will include four 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 be focusing on the development and partnering of the DNage ageing products and will be led by Dr Strijker; * The task force addressing "Financing and Shareholder Value" will be led by Dr Pinto; and * The task force developing the Pharming organisation and 2009 plans and budgets will be led by Dr de Vries.
Mr Jaap Blaak, Chairman of Pharming's Board of Supervisory Directors said: "Pharming is very grateful to Francis Pinto who became CEO of the Company in the most difficult period of its existence. Not only was he willing to accept the executive position initially without a cash component in his salary, but also invested a significant amount of his private money in the Company and was able to convince other investors as well to help re-build Pharming. Under his leadership, Pharming was able to make a remarkable turn-around and is close to having its first products on the market. We are delighted that he has agreed to delay his retirement even somewhat further and remain associated with the Company for the time being heading a task-force that will address future financing of Pharming. At the same time, I am convinced that Sijmen de Vries, through his successful international experience, his medical background and proven commercial track record, will be a valuable addition to the management of Pharming bringing both his big-pharma and small-biotech experience to the Company. We are very fortunate that he has agreed to be nominated for appointment as CEO by our Shareholders."
Dr. de Vries will be proposed for appointment in an Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders to be held on October 13, 2008. Details of that meeting and all related documents can be found at the Pharming 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 and on http://www.dnage.nl.
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 Philips (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
