BOSTON, June 27, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:KERX), a biopharmaceutical company focused on bringing innovative medicines to people with renal disease, today announced that Douglas Jermasek will join the company as vice president, marketing and strategy, effective July 1, 2016. In this role, he will be responsible for brand strategy, product positioning, marketing, market access, and patient services for the company’s lead medicine, Auryxia® (ferric citrate).
“Doug will be essential to defining and driving our marketing and branding initiatives for Auryxia,” said Greg Madison, chief executive officer of Keryx Biopharmaceuticals. “He is the right person to help us make Auryxia the phosphate binder brand of choice in dialysis. Additionally, Doug’s deep understanding of chronic kidney disease (CKD) will be important to develop the optimal brand strategy and positioning of Auryxia for potential expansion as a treatment for iron deficiency anemia in people with CKD not yet on dialysis.”
Mr. Jermasek and Keryx’s vice president of sales, Tony Chambers, who joined the company in August 2015, will report to Mr. Madison and will join the company’s senior management team. Mr. Jermasek and Mr. Chambers each bring extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including expertise in building successful, results-oriented commercial organizations.
Mr. Madison continued, “Since joining Keryx, Tony efficiently and effectively executed our field force expansion and has implemented programs for our field-based teams that are driving adoption of Auryxia. He joined Keryx at a critical time in the launch of this medicine. His pragmatism, coupled with a sense of urgency and results-driven approach have contributed significantly to the turnaround of Auryxia. The complementary backgrounds and expertise of Doug and Tony are a great asset for Keryx.”
About Douglas Jermasek
Mr. Jermasek has more than 20 years of biopharmaceutical strategic marketing experience. Prior to joining Keryx, from 2002 to 2014, he had commercial roles of increasing responsibility within Genzyme/Sanofi's global renal business, culminating in 2012 when he was appointed to the role of senior vice president & general manager of that business. After his tenure at Genzyme/Sanofi, he held senior leadership roles at Deltanoid Pharmaceuticals and Intercept Pharmaceuticals. Earlier in his career, Mr. Jermasek held positions at Hybritech/Lilly, Abbott Laboratories, Agouron/Pfizer, and Prometheus. Mr. Jermasek received an M.B.A. from the Marriott School of Management and a B.S. in biological science from Brigham Young University.
About Tony Chambers
Mr. Chambers joined Keryx Biopharmaceuticals in August 2015 bringing approximately 30 years of sales experience in biopharmaceutical and medical device industries, including a track record of establishing high performing field based teams, and developing and executing commercial sales plans in competitive environments. Prior to Keryx, Mr. Chambers spent nearly two years as vice president of sales at Cubist before it was acquired by Merck. Mr. Chambers has also consulted to large and small biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, focused on sales force effectiveness. He spent approximately 16 years in numerous roles of increasing responsibility at Genzyme/Sanofi US Biosurgery business, including vice president of sales and vice president of international. Prior to Genzyme, he spent more than 12 years at Acufex, a medical device company now part of Smith & Nephew, where he held a number of leadership positions, including a divisional manager. Mr. Chambers received a B.S. in physical therapy from the University of Connecticut.
About Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.
Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, with headquarters in Boston, is focused on bringing innovative medicines to people with renal disease. In December 2014, the company launched its first FDA-approved medicine, Auryxia® (ferric citrate) in the United States. In January 2014, ferric citrate was approved for use in Japan, where it is being marketed as Riona® by Keryx's Japanese partner, Japan Tobacco Inc. and Torii Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. In September 2015, the European Commission granted European market authorization for Fexeric® (ferric citrate coordination complex). For more information about Keryx, please visit www.keryx.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements included in this press release may be forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. For those statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Among the factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially are the following: the risk that we may not be able to successfully market Auryxia in the U.S. for patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis; the risk that the FDA may not concur with our interpretation of our Phase 3 study results, supportive data, conduct of the studies, or any other part of our regulatory submission and could ultimately deny approval of the ferric citrate for the treatment of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in adults with stage 3-5 non-dialysis dependent (NDD) chronic kidney disease (CKD), and other risk factors identified from time to time in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward looking statements set forth in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. We do not undertake to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof. This press release and prior releases are available at http://www.keryx.com. The information found on our website is not incorporated by reference into this press release and is included for reference purposes only.