MARTINSRIED, GERMANY and PRINCETON, NJ--(Marketwire - October 08, 2009) - GPC Biotech AG
(FRANKFURT: GPC) (XETRA: GPC) today reported that its planned merger, under
which the Company will combine its business with Agennix Incorporated, a
privately held biotechnology company located in Houston, Texas, remains on
track to close before the end of 2009. The Company resulting from the
merger will be called Agennix AG.
Changes to the future makeup of the Management and Supervisory Boards of
Agennix AG
The Company also today reported a change to the future Management Board
(Vorstand) of Agennix AG: Dr. Atul Varadhachary will resign from his
position as President and Chief Operating Officer of Agennix Incorporated
by mutual agreement. He will not be joining the Management Board of
Agennix AG. The other two future Agennix AG Management Board members --
Dr. Friedrich von Bohlen und Halbach (interim Chief Executive Officer) and
Dr. Torsten Hombeck (Chief Financial Officer) -- will serve as planned. Dr.
Rajesh Malik, Chief Medical Officer of Agennix Incorporated, who will also
serve as Chief Medical Officer of Agennix AG, will assume responsibility,
effective immediately, for all drug development activities previously
managed by Dr. Varadhachary.
Dr. Torsten Hombeck, Chief Financial Officer of GPC Biotech, said: "I
would like to thank Dr. Varadhachary for his valuable contributions and
wish him the best in his future endeavors. We are looking forward to
working with Dr. Malik as Chief Medical Officer to advance the combined
entity's clinical development programs, most importantly the two Phase 3
trials of talactoferrin in non-small cell lung cancer."
The Company also reported that Dr. Juergen Drews, current Chairman of the
Supervisory Board of GPC Biotech, will join the Supervisory Board of
Agennix AG as a member, completing the membership of the future six-person
Supervisory Board.
Merger-related legal proceedings settled
GPC Biotech reported that the lawsuits brought against the Company
following the Annual Shareholders' Meeting this summer at which the merger
agreement between the Company and diagennix GmbH (predecessor to Agennix
AG) was approved have been settled. As previously disclosed, there were
two lawsuits filed against the Company with the regional court
(Landgericht) in Munich, both claiming as null and void the resolution
passed at the Annual Shareholders' Meeting. Under the settlement
agreement, GPC Biotech agreed to publish on its website answers to certain
questions related to the merger and pay the claimants' legal fees and court
costs. The claimants have agreed to withdraw the lawsuits and will make no
further claims related to the shareholder meeting which approved the
merger.
About GPC Biotech
GPC Biotech AG is a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company focused on
developing anti-cancer drugs. The Company currently has two programs in
clinical development: satraplatin, an oral platinum compound, and
RGB-286638, a multi-targeted protein kinase inhibitor. The Company's
shareholders have approved a merger agreement pursuant to which the Company
will combine its business with Agennix Incorporated, a privately held
biotechnology company located in Houston, Texas. Agennix is developing
oral talactoferrin, a product candidate that is currently in Phase 3 trials
for non-small cell lung cancer. GPC Biotech AG is headquartered in
Martinsried/Munich (Germany) and has a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary in
Princeton, New Jersey. For additional information, please visit GPC
Biotech's Web site at www.gpc-biotech.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, which express the
current beliefs and expectations of the management of GPC Biotech, in
particular about the planned merger and the timing of its completion. Such
statements are based on current expectations and are subject to risks and
uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, that could cause
future results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from
the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially
depending on a number of factors, and we caution investors not to place
undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press
release. There can be no guarantee that the merger will be completed in a
timely manner, if at all. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the
date on which they are made and GPC Biotech undertakes no obligation to
update these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes
available in the future.
