Sosei Appoints Peter Bains As COO And CEO-Elect

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sosei Group Corporation (“Sosei”; TOKYO Mothers Index: 4565) today announces the appointment of Mr Peter Bains as Representative Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer (COO) effective from April 1 2016. Mr Bains will assume responsibility for all operational activities of Sosei and will report to Mr Shinichi Tamura in his ongoing capacity as Group Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Further, it is expected that Mr Bains will become Representative Executive Officer, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) upon approval by the Board of Directors following Sosei Group’s Annual General Meeting in June 2016. At the same time, Mr Shinichi Tamura, Sosei founder and Group Chairman, President and CEO, is expected to become Representative Executive Officer and Executive Chairman.

1.		The reason for appointment
		To further strengthen/develop the system of management to improve our corporate value and reinforce the management base

2.		The name and title of new Representative Executive Officer
		Name:		Peter Bains
		Title:		Representative Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer (COO)

3.		Brief summary of Peter Bains
		Date of birth		Profile		Ownership of shares of Sosei
		July 26 1957		March 1996: General Manager of SmithKline Beecham plc. (GlaxoSmithKline)		0
				January 2001: Senior Vice President, GlaxoSmithKline International Commercial Development
				June 2009: Director of Peter Bains Consulting Limited.
				January 2010: Non-executive Board Director at Syngene International Limited
				June 2010: Non-executive Director at Sosei Group Corporation
				February 2015: Director at Heptares Therapeutics Ltd.
				February 2015: Executive Director and CEO at Syngene International Limited

4.		Effective date
		As of April 1 2016

Peter Bains, born on September 26 1957, has nearly 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry encompassing strategic and operational leadership expertise across global geographies, functions and business segments. He had a 23-year career at GlaxoSmithKline, where he held multiple senior roles including General Manager of China, VP of International Business Development, Head of Global Marketing and Senior VP of International Commercial Development. From 2009, he has been a consultant specialising in supporting strategic growth opportunities in small- and medium-sized innovation-based life science companies. He currently serves as an Non-executive Director at Sosei Group Corporation, and as CEO at Syngene, a subsidiary of Biocon, Asia’s leading biotechnology company.

Commenting on the appointment, Mr Shinichi Tamura said: “I am delighted to announce Mr Bains as my successor in leading Sosei Group into its next phase of evolution and growth. Mr Bains has served Sosei for the past five years in his capacity as a Non-executive Director and in this role has worked closely with me and the Board to shape Sosei’s evolving strategy to become a global biopharmaceutical business. Along with his deep insight of our Group and its activities, Mr Bains brings a strong track record of successful leadership and operational experience in the biopharmaceutical sector that will serve to strengthen our company's leadership and capabilities in the dynamic and exciting future we are planning.”

Mr Bains added: “I am both personally honoured and also extremely excited at the prospect of taking up these new roles and I would like to thank Mr Tamura and the Sosei Board for their trust and support. Sosei Group is now at a very dynamic point in its history as it seeks to expand its operational scope and scale, and I am looking forward to contributing to its rapid evolution into a truly global biopharmaceutical company.”

About Sosei

Sosei Group Corporation is an international biopharmaceutical company originating from Japan that discovers and develops innovative biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, cancer, migraine, addiction, metabolic disease, and other indications. By utilizing its GPCR structure-based drug design platform technology, Sosei have established a product pipeline with first/best in class potential. Through development and commercialization partnerships, Sosei have already delivered two bronchodilators for COPD which generate significant and stable revenue streams that enable further growth. Sosei partners include Novartis, AstraZeneca, MedImmune, MorphoSys, Teva, and Pfizer and we are actively looking for new partnerships to enhance the development of our products and help us deliver them to patients worldwide.

For further information about Sosei, please visit www.sosei.com/en.

Forward-looking statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements about the discovery, development and commercialisation of products. Various risks may cause Sosei’s actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including: adverse results in clinical development programmes; failure to obtain patent protection for inventions; commercial limitations imposed by patents owned or controlled by third parties; dependence upon strategic alliance partners to develop and commercialise products and services; difficulties or delays in obtaining regulatory approvals to market products and services resulting from development efforts; the requirement for substantial funding to conduct research and development and to expand commercialisation activities; and product initiatives by competitors. As a result of these factors, prospective investors are cautioned not to rely on any forward-looking statements. 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.