Valby, Denmark, 2 July 2018 - H. Lundbeck A/S (Lundbeck) today announced that the Board of Directors of the company has appointed Dr. Deborah Dunsire as new president and CEO of Lundbeck. Dr. Dunsire will take up her new position on 1 September 2018.
Trained as a medical doctor, Deborah Dunsire (56) is an experienced CEO who brings more than 30 years of clinical, commercial, and international management experience from the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, primarily in the fields of oncology and CNS, thus bridging a breadth of scientific and business experience. Her wealth of professional and executive experience includes positions as President and CEO of XTuit Pharmaceuticals, Inc., FORUM Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
"It is a great pleasure to announce that Deborah Dunsire will join Lundbeck as President and CEO," says Lars Rasmussen, Chairman of Lundbeck's Board of Directors. “She brings a wealth of highly successful R&D and commercial experiences including a robust knowledge and experience in neuroscience. She is a proven and highly passionate leader and has all the qualifications to take Lundbeck to the next level as a global leader within psychiatric and neurological disorders.”
Dr. Dunsire has lived in the U.S. since 1994, and grew up in South Africa where she graduated from University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in 1985. In connection with her new position, Dr. Dunsire plans to move to Denmark from the U.S.
"Lundbeck stands out in the industry as a global company with a great history of innovating in neuroscience, which is recognized to be one of the toughest research areas for the industry ", says Dr. Dunsire and continues "I am excited to bring my experience to help build an even stronger and brighter future for Lundbeck, patients, employees, partners and shareholders."
From 1 September 2018, Anders Götzsche, interim CEO and CFO in Lundbeck will resume his position as CFO for the company.
"Anders has held the position as interim CEO since November 2017, and has together with the rest of management team done an excellent job in continuing the strong positive development that Lundbeck is having," says Lars Rasmussen, Chairman of Lundbeck's Board of Directors. “The Board will like to express gratitude for a job well done and we look forward to see Lundbeck continuing the positive development under the new management team.”
Career history and professional qualifications
| Year | Company/Position | Location |
| 2017 - 2018 | XTUIT PHARMACEUTICALS President, Chief Executive Officer & Member of the Board of Directors | USA |
| 2016 - 2017 | SOUTHERN CROSS BIOTECH CONSULTING Founder | USA |
| 2013 - 2016 | FORUM PHARMACEUTICALS (formerly EnVivo Pharmaceuticals) President & Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Directors | USA |
| 2008 - 2013 | MILLENNIUM - THE TAKEDA ONCOLOGY COMPANY Chief Executive Officer & President and Member of the Board of Directors | USA |
| 2010 - 2013 | TAKEDA PHARMACEUTICALS Member of the Board of Directors | Japan |
| 2005 - 2008 | MILLENNIUM PHARMACEUTICALS (acquired by Takeda in 2008) Chief Executive Officer & President | USA |
| 1996 - 2005 | NOVARTIS PHARMACEUTICALS | USA |
| 1988 - 1996 | SANDOZ (merged with Ciba-Geigy to form Novartis in 1996) | USA, Switzerland and South Africa |
| 1986 - 1988 | PRIVATE MEDICAL PRACTICE and NATIONAL EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES | South Africa |
| Non-Executive Directorships: | ||
| 2018 - present | ALEXION PHARMACEUTICALS (NASDAQ: ALXN) Board Member | USA |
| 2017 - present | ULTRAGENYX PHARMACEUTICAL (NASDAQ: RARE) Board Member | USA |
Lundbeck contacts
| Investors: | Media: |
| Palle Holm Olesen | Mads Kronborg |
| Vice President, Investor Relations | Senior Director, Corp. Communication |
| PALO@lundbeck.com | MAVK@lundbeck.com |
| +45 30 83 24 26 | +45 36 43 40 00 |
About H. Lundbeck A/S
H. Lundbeck A/S (LUN.CO, LUN DC, HLUYY) is a global pharmaceutical company specialized in psychiatric and neurological disorders. For more than 70 years, we have been at the forefront of research within neuroscience. Our key areas of focus are Alzheimer's disease, depression, Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia.
Our approximately 5,000 employees in 55 countries are engaged in the entire value chain throughout research, development, manufacturing, marketing and sales. Our pipeline consists of several late-stage development programmes and our products are available in more than 100 countries. We have production facilities in Denmark, France and Italy. Lundbeck generated revenue of DKK 17.2 billion in 2017 (EUR 2.3 billion; USD 2.6 billion).
For additional information, we encourage you to visit our corporate site www.lundbeck.com and connect with us on Twitter at @Lundbeck.
Safe Harbor/Forward-Looking Statements
The above information contains forward-looking statements that provide our expectations or forecasts of future events such as new product introductions, product approvals and financial performance.
Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and inaccurate assumptions. This may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations and it may cause any or all of our forward-looking statements here or in other publications to be wrong. Factors that may affect future results include interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations, delay or failure of development projects, production problems, unexpected contract breaches or terminations, government-mandated or market-driven price decreases for Lundbeck's products, introduction of competing products, Lundbeck's ability to successfully market both new and existing products, exposure to product liability and other lawsuits, changes in reimbursement rules and governmental laws and related interpretation thereof, and unexpected growth in costs and expenses.
Certain assumptions made by Lundbeck are required by Danish Securities Law for full disclosure of material corporate information. Some assumptions, including assumptions relating to sales associated with product that is prescribed for unapproved uses, are made taking into account past performances of other similar drugs for similar disease states or past performance of the same drug in other regions where the product is currently marketed. It is important to note that although physicians may, as part of their freedom to practice medicine in the US, prescribe approved drugs for any use they deem appropriate, including unapproved uses, at Lundbeck, promotion of unapproved uses is strictly prohibited.
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