Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN), a Swiss specialty pharmaceutical company focused on orphan neuromuscular diseases, announced today proposed changes to its Board of Directors. The Company nominates Jürg Ambühl as new member of its Board. Mr. Ambühl is a long-standing pharmaceutical executive and brings extensive and valuable commercial and marketing experience to support Santhera's future corporate development. The appointment is subject to the approval at the upcoming Annual Shareholder's Meeting scheduled for April 27, 2009 in Basel, Switzerland.
Santhera's Board proposes its Shareholders to appoint Jürg Ambühl as new member of the Company's Board for a term of two years until the ordinary Shareholders Meeting in 2011. Mr. Ambühl is a Swiss citizen and born in 1949. He is a seasoned marketing specialist with a long track record in the pharmaceutical industry globally. Mr. Ambühl holds a PhD in chemistry from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich (ETH), Switzerland and an MBA from the INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France. He started his professional career at Eli Lilly's subsidiary in Germany, where, from 1978 to 1982, he held several management positions in sales and marketing. From 1982 to 1987, Mr. Ambühl worked for McKinsey. From 1987 to 1989, he held several senior management positions within MSD Sharp & Dohme in Germany, lately as general manager with business responsibility for the German market. From 2000 to 2001, Mr. Ambühl served as president regional business Europe/international at Knoll/BASF Pharmaceuticals. From 2001 to 2003, he served as chief executive officer of Metagen Pharmaceuticals, a Berlin-based oncology spin-off of Schering. From 2003 to 2007, he worked in several senior management positions for the Serono group, lastly as senior executive vice president global marketing. In this capacity, he was responsible for worldwide marketing strategies for all of Serono's products. Currently, Mr. Ambühl is partner of Ares Life Sciences.
In addition, the Board proposes to re-elect Michael Lytton and Hans Peter Hasler for a term of one year each (until the Annual Shareholders' Meeting in 2010) and Timothy Rink for a term of three years (until the Annual Shareholders' Meeting in 2012). Rudolf Gygax, member of the Board since 2004 and serving also in the Board's Audit Committee and Nomination & Compensation Committees, has decided not to stand for re-election for personal reasons.
"We are very pleased to nominate such a prominent marketing specialist as Jürg to our Board of Directors. His international know-how in Marketing & Sales will add significantly to the Board's expertise in this key area, as Santhera prepares its first commercial launch in the US market. I am confident that Jürg will provide important and valuable advice and I look forward to working with him", said Michael Lytton, Chairman of the Board of Santhera. "We express our sincerest thanks to Ruedi for his highly valued contributions during many years. As representative of the Novartis Venture Fund, he was a Board member of MyoContract, one of our two predecessor companies, and in this function, fundamentally involved in the founding and development of Santhera."
2008 Annual Report
The interactive version of Santhera's 2008 Annual Report is available on the Company's Web site www.santhera.com/2008interactive. The report can also be downloaded as pdf-file from www.santhera.com/reports.
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About Santhera
Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) is a Swiss specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of small-molecule pharmaceutical products for the treatment of severe neuromuscular diseases, an area of high unmet medical need which includes many orphan indications with no current therapy. Santhera's first product, Catena® has received marketing approval from Health Canada to treat Friedreich's Ataxia. The drug is investigated in two fully recruited pivotal trials in the United States and in Europe. The same compound has also shown efficacy in a clinical trial as a potential treatment for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. For further information, please visit the Company's Web site www.santhera.com.
Catena® is a trademark of Santhera Pharmaceuticals.
For further information, contact
Klaus Schollmeier, Chief Executive Officer
Phone: +41 (0)61 906 89 52
klaus.schollmeier@santhera.com
Barbara Heller, Chief Financial Officer
Phone: +41 (0)61 906 89 54
barbara.heller@santhera.com
Thomas Staffelbach, Head Public & Investor Relations
Phone: +41 (0)61 906 89 47
thomas.staffelbach@santhera.com
Disclaimer/Forward-looking statements
This communication does not constitute an offer or invitation to subscribe for or purchase any securities of Santhera Pharmaceuticals Holding AG. This publication may contain certain forward-looking statements concerning the Company and its business. Such statements involve certain risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements. Readers should therefore not place undue reliance on these statements, particularly not in connection with any contract or investment decision. The Company disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
