Topo Target A/S
Symbion
Fruebjergvej 3
DK-2100 Copenhagen
Denmark
Tel: +45 39 17 83 92
Fax: +45 39 17 94 92
CVR-no: 25695771
www.topotarget.com
TopoTarget appoints Anders Fink Vadsholt as new CFO & Head of IR and
streamlines organization and management structure to focus on belinostat
Copenhagen, Denmark - 7 April, 2010 - TopoTarget A/S (NASDAQ-OMX: TOPO.CO)
announced today that it has appointed Anders Fink Vadsholt as new CFO & Head of
IR as well as streamlined its organization and management structure to focus on
the implementation of the lifecycle plan for belinostat, TopoTarget's lead
anticancer drug, and to optimize the use of the Company's cash resources.
Anders Fink Vadsholt joins TopoTarget as new CFO of TopoTarget on 15 April,
2010. In addition to the role as CFO, he will be responsible for the Company's
IR activities. Anders Fink Vadsholt has extensive experience from the biotech
industry and has most recently been a partner of BankInvest Biomedical Venture
which he joined in 2005, and where he was responsible for its investment in
TopoTarget. Prior to joining BankInvest Biomedical Venture, he was CFO of
several smaller companies, including 7TM Pharma (2000-2002), where he was also
a co-founder. He started his career within equity research (life sciences) and
corporate finance at Carnegie Bank in Copenhagen. Anders Fink Vadsholt, aged
40, has a M.Sc. in Finance and Commercial Law from CBS, Copenhagen, Denmark; an
MBA from University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia; and has participated in
several management courses, including at Harvard Business School. Anders Fink
Vadsholt is currently a member of TopoTarget's board of directors, but will
step down from the board at the forthcoming annual general meeting to be held
on 22 April 2010.
As a consequence of TopoTarget's focus on belinostat, the Company restructures
its research and pre-clinical development organization as well as its
management structure leading to the elimination of eight positions of which
four relate to TopoTarget's research and pre-clinical development organization,
and three positions relate to management. Following today's reorganization,
TopoTarget employs around 40 people.
In addition, TopoTarget intends, in the near future, to further strengthen the
Company's medical and regulatory organization.
“I am pleased that we within a very short time period have been able to
identify actions which will support our focus on commercializing belinostat as
well as to reduce our cash burn. Belinostat is a pipeline within a molecule
with blockbuster potential and we are dedicated to maximize this potential”,
said Francois Martelet, MD, CEO of TopoTarget. He continued: “Further, I am
excited to welcome Anders as part of the TopoTarget management team. His
operational and strategic experience in the biotech sector will no doubt be
very valuable for us.”
As a consequence of the reorganization, TopoTarget expects one-off costs of
around DKK 6 million in 2010 of which the majority will be accounted for in the
profit and loss account in the second quarter of 2010. However, the
reorganization is expected to reduce the Company's cash burn over the coming
years as annual savings of approximately DKK 6-7 million are expected to be
realised from 2011 and onwards.
As stated in the Company's annual report for 2009, the Company is currently not
giving guidance on forecast profit/loss for the full year 2010 as this will be
materially impacted by decisions yet to be finalized by the TopoTarget/Spectrum
Joint Development Committee under the Spectrum License and Collaboration
Agreement, entered into in February 2010. However, TopoTarget will seek to
provide financial guidance for the full year 2010 already in connection with
its forthcoming annual general meeting to be held on 22 April, 2010 (rather
than on release of the Company's Q1 report on 20 May 2010 as previously
announced in the annual report for 2009).
TopoTarget A/S
For further information, please contact:
Francois Martelet Direct: +45 39 17 94 99
CEO Mobile: +45 31 36 83 41
Background information
About TopoTarget
TopoTarget (NASDAQ OMX: TOPO) is an international biotech company headquartered
in Denmark, dedicated to finding ''Answers for Cancer'' and developing improved
cancer therapies. TopoTarget currently focuses, in collaboration with Spectrum
Pharmaceuticals, Inc., on the development in pivotal studies of its lead drug
candidate, belinostat, which has shown proof-of-concept as monotherapy in
treating haematological malignancies and positive results in solid tumours.
Belinostat can be used in combination with full doses of chemotherapy, and is
currently in a pivotal trial within PTCL (peripheral T-cell lymphoma).
TopoTarget is directing its efforts on belinostat and other key cancer targets,
including NAD+, mTOR, FASLigand and topoisomerase II-inhibitors. The Company's
first marketed product, Savene®/Totect®, was approved by EMEA in 2006 and the
FDA in 2007, and is marketed by TopoTarget's own sales force in the US. For
more information, please refer to www.topotarget.com.
TopoTarget Safe Harbour Statement
This announcement may contain forward-looking statements, including statements
about our expectations of the progression of our preclinical and clinical
pipeline including the timing for commencement and completion of clinical
trials and with respect to cash burn guidance. Such statements are based on
management's current expectations and are subject to a number of risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
described in the forward-looking statements. TopoTarget cautions investors that
there can be no assurance that actual results or business conditions will not
differ materially from those projected or suggested in such forward-looking
statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the
following: The risk that any one or more of the drug development programs of
TopoTarget will not proceed as planned for technical, scientific or commercial
reasons or due to patient enrolment issues or based on new information from
non-clinical or clinical studies or from other sources; the success of
competing products and technologies; technological uncertainty and product
development risks; uncertainty of additional funding; TopoTarget's history of
incurring losses and the uncertainty of achieving profitability; TopoTarget's
stage of development as a biopharmaceutical company; government regulation;
patent infringement claims against TopoTarget's products, processes and
technologies; the ability to protect TopoTarget's patents and proprietary
rights; uncertainties relating to commercialization rights; and product
liability exposure; We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise
any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future
events, or otherwise, unless required by law.
