SOPHIA ANTIPOLIS, FRANCE--(Marketwire - March 21, 2012) -
PRESS RELEASE
Jerry St. Peter appointed Executive Vice President and General Manager of
NicOx
Inc.
www.nicox.com
NicOx S.A. (NYSE Euronext Paris: COX) today announces the appointment of
Jerry
St. Peter as Executive Vice President and General Manager of NicOx
Inc., the
U.S. subsidiary of NicOx. Mr. St. Peter has a successful commercial track-
record
in specialty pharmaceutical companies, with an extensive knowledge
of the
ophthalmology market in the United States. In particular, he
successfully
developed the commercial unit of Inspire Pharmaceuticals,
Inc., an
ophthalmology-focused company acquired by Merck & Co. for $430 million
in May
2011.
In tight collaboration with NicOx's European headquarters, Mr. St. Peter
will be
responsible for identifying and evaluating North American opportunities
than can
be exploited globally, in order to build NicOx's late-stage
ophthalmic
portfolio. Mr. St. Peter will also lead the development of NicOx's
U.S.
ophthalmology business. He will be part of NicOx's Executive Committee and
will
report to Michele Garufi, Chairman and CEO.
The appointment of Mr. St. Peter is part of NicOx's strategy to
create an
international late-stage development and commercial ophthalmology company
based
around therapeutics, diagnostics and devices. NicOx announced today, March
21,
that it had acquired 11.8% of the shares of Altacor, a
privately-held
ophthalmology company based in the United Kingdom, and entered into an
exclusive
option agreement to acquire the remaining shares of Altacor, as the first
step
in achieving this goal. A number of other opportunities are currently
under
discussion which could lead to additional M&A or in-licensing to
build a
balanced ophthalmology pipeline across the United States and Europe.
Michele Garufi, Chairman and CEO of NicOx, said: "I am very pleased to
welcome
Jerry as a permanent member of the NicOx team. Jerry has been working with
NicOx
as a consultant for the past five months, helping us in the ongoing
evaluation
of a number of ophthalmology companies and products. Jerry has an
impressive
track record in the development of commercial infrastructure and
building a
strong network of Key Opinion Leaders across the United States. He will be
a key
asset in the creation and future expansion of our presence in the United
States
as we work towards delivering our strategy of building
an
international ophthalmology Company."
Mr. St. Peter has more than 22 years of executive leadership
experience
involving specialty pharmaceutical strategy planning, marketing, sales,
managed
markets, financial management, business development and M&A
transactions. Mr.
St. Peter joined Inspire in 2003 and held the positions of Senior
Vice
President, Ophthalmology Business Unit, Senior Vice President, Sales and
Managed
Markets and Vice President of Sales. He was responsible for building
Inspire's
commercial business, where he successfully launched Elestat®
and AzaSite®
ophthalmic solutions. He also led Inspire's co-promotion partnership
with
Allergan for Restasis® ophthalmic emulsion.
Prior to joining Inspire, Mr. St. Peter held a number of leadership
positions
for Muro Pharmaceutical, Inc., a private ophthalmic, pulmonary,
asthma and
allergy specialty pharmaceutical company. He was responsible for the
growth of
the commercial function and served on the company's Executive Management
Team.
Mr. St. Peter holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Education
from the
University of Massachusetts, Lowell.
Jerry St. Peter commented: "I am delighted to be joining NicOx at this
important
stage in its development. I believe the Company's decision to focus on
creating
a mid-sized ophthalmology business is both strategic and well timed.
NicOx
already has some important assets within eye care, including its
innovative
agreement with Altacor announced today, the positive phase 2b results with
BOL-
303259-X as well as promising early-stage nitric oxide-donating
compounds. The
United States is the largest market for ophthalmic drugs in the world,
with
sales reaching $6.5 billion in 2010((1)), and establishing a commercial
presence
here will be a key part of the new business of NicOx."
(1) The Ophthalmic Pharmaceutical Market Outlook to 2016, Business
Insight,
September 2011.
NOTE: Elestat® is a registered trademark of Boehringer Ingelheim
International
GmbH and is licensed to Allergan, Inc., AzaSite® is a registered
trademark of
InSite Vision Inc. and is licensed to Merck and Company and
Restasis® is a
registered trademark of Allergan, Inc.
About NicOx
NicOx (Bloomberg: COX:FP, Reuters: NCOX.PA) is a pharmaceutical company
focused
on the research, development and future commercialization of drug
candidates.
NicOx is applying its proprietary nitric oxide-donating R&D platform to
develop
an internal portfolio of New Molecular Entities (NMEs) for the
potential
treatment of inflammatory, cardio-metabolic and ophthalmological diseases.
The Company's pipeline includes several nitric oxide-donating NMEs, which
are in
development internally and with partners, who include Merck (known
as MSD
outside the United States and Canada), Bausch + Lomb and Ferrer.
NicOx S.A. is headquartered in France and is listed on Euronext
Paris
(Compartment C: Small Caps).
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements.
Although the
Company believes its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions,
these
forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and
uncertainties,
which could cause actual results to differ materially from those
anticipated in
the forward-looking statements.
Risks factors which are likely to have a material effect on NicOx's
business are
presented in the 4(th) chapter of the « Document de
référence, rapport financier
annuel et rapport de gestion 2011 » filed with the French
Autorité des Marchés
Financiers (AMF) on February 29, 2012 and available on NicOx's
website
(www.nicox.com) and on the AMF's website (www.amf-france.org).
NicOx S.A.
Les Taissounières - Bât HB4 - 1681 route des Dolines - BP313 -
06906 Sophia
Antipolis Cedex - France
Tel: +33 (0)4 97 24 53 00 · Fax: +33 (0)4 97 24 53 99
NicOx:Jerry St. Peter appointed EVP and General:
http://hugin.info/143509/R/1596004/502701.pdf
This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of
Thomson Reuters clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and
other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and
originality of the information contained therein.
Source: NICOX via Thomson Reuters ONE
[HUG#1596004]
