Zealand Pharma Announces Organizational And Management Changes
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, March 19, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zealand Pharma A/S (Nasdaq Copenhagen: ZEAL) ("Zealand") announces organizational and management changes to support the company's strategy and to ensure a dynamic and focused organization. The research and development organization is split into two parts, each with direct representation in management. Furthermore, Investor Relations & Communications will also be represented directly at management level.
As a result of the organizational restructuring, the former positions as Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Operating Officer have become redundant.
Adam Steensberg, Vice President for Development has been promoted and appointed to the new position as Senior Vice President for Development and Chief Medical Officer. The new position as Senior Vice President for Research will temporarily be filled by Keld Fosgerau, Vice President for Research, while the company searches for a permanent appointment. Hanne Leth Hillman, Vice President for Investor Relations and Corporate Communications is promoted and appointed to the new position as Senior Vice President for Investor Relations & Communications.
The reorganization eliminates one management level in support of the company's strategy and to ensure a dynamic organization with operational flexibility and short decision making. It will put stronger emphasis on research to support and sustain Zealand's leading position in the innovative research and discovery of novel peptide medicines. At the same time, the new structure will ensure optimal focus on value creation through increased investment in the clinical development of Zealand's wholly-owned products.
The Executive Management of Zealand comprises President and Chief Executive Officer Britt Meelby Jensen and Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Mats Blom. The other members of management are Adam Steensberg, Senior Vice President for Development; Keld Fosgerau, acting Senior Vice President for Research and Hanne Leth Hillman, Senior Vice President for Investor Relations & Communications. In connection with the announced organizational changes, Torsten Hoffmann, Chief Scientific Officer, and Agneta Svedberg, Chief Operating Officer, are leaving the company.
Britt Meelby Jensen, President and CEO of Zealand, has the following comments to the changes: "I would like to thank both Agneta and Torsten for their valuable contributions to our shared endeavor to fulfil Zealand's mission. I wish them both good luck in the future. I wish Adam, Keld and Hanne every success in their new roles and I look forward to working with them in their new roles."
For further information, please contact:
Britt Meelby Jensen, President and Chief Executive Officer
Tel: +45 51 67 61 28, email: bmj@zealandpharma.com
Hanne Leth Hillman, Vice President, Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
Tel: +45 50 60 36 89, email: hlh@zealandpharma.com
About Zealand Pharma
Zealand Pharma A/S ("Zealand") (Nasdaq Copenhagen: ZEAL) is a biotechnology company based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Zealand has leading expertise in the discovery, design and development of novel peptide medicines and possesses in-house competences in clinical trial design and management with a therapeutic focus on metabolic diseases and acute care indications. The company is advancing a proprietary pipeline of novel medicines alongside a partnered product and development portfolio.
Zealand's first invented medicine, lixisenatide, a once-daily prandial GLP-1 agonist for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, is marketed globally (ex-US) as Lyxumia(r) and in Phase III development as a single-injection combination with Lantus(r) (LixiLan), both under a global license agreement with Sanofi. US regulatory submission of Lyxumia(r) is planned for Q3 2015 and US/EU regulatory submissions for LixiLan in Q4 2015.
Zealand proprietary pipeline includes danegaptide (prevention of Ischemic Reperfusion Injury) and the stable glucagon product, ZP4207 (treatment of severe hypoglycemia) as well as several preclinical peptide therapeutics. Partnering represents an important component of strategy to leverage in-house expertise, share development risk in large clinical trials, provide funding and commercialize the company's products. Zealand currently has global license agreements and partnerships with Sanofi, Helsinn Healthcare, Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly.
For further information: www.zealandpharma.com Follow us on Twitter @ZealandPharma
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