LEIDEN, Netherlands, May 23, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --
Mr. Jaap Blaak, Former Chairman of the Board of Supervisory Directors, retires from the Board
Pharming Group N.V. ("Pharming" or "the Company") (Euronext Amsterdam: PHARM) announces that at its Annual General Meeting of shareholders (AGM), held today, all proposals were approved.
At the meeting, Mr. Jaap Blaak, who was Chairman of the Board of Supervisory Directors (BOSD) from 2007- 2015, announced that he would be retiring as member of the BOSD, effective immediately.
Paul Sekhri, the current Chairman of the BOSD, commented: "The BOSD is very grateful to Jaap for his 11 years of service and dedication, and we thank him for his leadership, courage, and loyalty during his long tenure, including some very difficult times in the company's history. We wish him all the best for the future."
Sijmen de Vries, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "Jaap joined Pharming's BOSD at a challenging time, and on his watch Pharming was not only able to survive, but succeed as the first Dutch biotech company to get a first product from its technology platform approved in both the EU and USA. The Board of Management would like to thank him sincerely for his patience, guidance, trust and perseverance, and wish him all the best in his retirement."
The presentation slides from today's AGM are available on the Company's website.
The Board of Management
Sijmen de Vries, CEO
Bruno Giannetti, COO
Robin Wright, CFO
About Pharming Group N.V.
Pharming is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing innovative products for the safe, effective treatment of rare diseases and unmet medical needs. Pharming's lead product, RUCONEST (conestat alfa) is a recombinant human C1 esterase inhibitor approved for the treatment of acute Hereditary Angioedema ("HAE") attacks in patients in Europe, the US, Israel and South Korea. The product is available on a named-patient basis in other territories where it has not yet obtained marketing authorization.
RUCONEST is distributed by Pharming in Austria, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Pharming holds commercialisation rights in Algeria, Andorra, Bahrain, Belgium, Ireland, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Portugal, Qatar, Syria, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. In some of these countries this is done in association with the HAEi Global Access Program (GAP).
RUCONEST is distributed by Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (publ) (SS: SOBI) in the other EU countries, and in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Norway, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine.
RUCONEST is distributed in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Panama, and Venezuela by Cytobioteck, in South Korea by HyupJin Corporation and in Israel by Megapharm.
RUCONEST is also being examined for approval for the treatment of HAE in young children (2-13 years of age) and evaluated for various additional follow-on indications.
Pharming's technology platform includes a unique, GMP-compliant, validated process for the production of pure recombinant human proteins that has proven capable of producing industrial quantities of high quality recombinant human proteins in a more economical and less immunogenetic way compared with current cell-line based methods. Leads for enzyme replacement therapy ("ERT") for Pompe and Fabry's diseases are being optimized at present, with additional programs not involving ERT also being explored at an early stage at present.
Pharming has a long term partnership with the China State Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry ("CSIPI"), a Sinopharm company, for joint global development of new products, starting with recombinant human Factor VIII for the treatment of Haemophilia A. Pre-clinical development and manufacturing will take place to global standards at CSIPI and are funded by CSIPI. Clinical development will be shared between the partners with each partner taking the costs for their territories under the partnership.
Pharming has declared that the Netherlands is its "Home Member State" pursuant to the amended article 5:25a paragraph 2 of the Dutch Financial Supervision Act.
Additional information is available on the Pharming website: http://www.pharming.com
Forward-looking Statements
This press release of Pharming Group N.V. and its subsidiaries ("Pharming", the "Company" or the "Group") may contain forward-looking statements including without limitation those regarding Pharming's financial projections, market expectations, developments, partnerships, plans, strategies and capital expenditures.
The Company cautions that such forward-looking statements may involve certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ. Risks and uncertainties include without limitation the effect of competitive, political and economic factors, legal claims, the Company's ability to protect intellectual property, fluctuations in exchange and interest rates, changes in taxation laws or rates, changes in legislation or accountancy practices and the Company's ability to identify, develop and successfully commercialize new products, markets or technologies.
As a result, the Company's actual performance, position and financial results and statements may differ materially from the plans, goals and expectations set forth in such forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or information, which should be taken as of their respective dates of issue, unless required by laws or regulations.
Contacts:
Pharming Group N.V.
Sijmen de Vries, CEO, Tel: +31-71-524-7400
Robin Wright, CFO, Tel: +31-71-524-7432
FTI Consulting:
Julia Phillips/ Victoria Foster Mitchell, Tel: +44-203-727-1136
Lifespring Life Sciences Communication
Leon Melens, Tel: +31-6-53-81-64-27
PRN NLD
