TURKU, FINLAND--(Marketwire - May 20, 2009) -
BIOTIE THERAPIES CORP. PRESS RELEASE May 20, 2009 at 9:00
a.m.
Biotie Names Chris Piggott as Chief Business Officer
Biotie Therapies Corp. (NASDAQ OMX Helsinki: BTH1V) announced today
the appointment of Chris Piggott as Chief Business Officer and member
of the Management Team of the Company, effective June 1, 2009. Mr.
Piggott is replacing Kai Lähdesmäki, previously the Company's Vice
President, Business Development, who retired from the Company in 2007
and continues to serve as an advisor for Biotie. Mr. Piggott has
more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and a
proven track record in establishing and implementing business
development strategies in addition to executing deals between large,
medium and small companies in Europe, the United States and Asia.
Mr. Piggott spent over 25 years with sanofi-aventis and its
predecessor companies including Aventis Pharma, Marion Merrell Dow
and Hoechst Marion Roussel. During his tenure, Mr. Piggott managed
Aventis' licensing activities with companies based in Japan and Korea
while also supporting the company's respiratory, anti-infective,
Alzheimer's disease research groups, and led a team in the oncology
field. Mr. Piggott also successfully negotiated and executed
license, co-development and co-promotion agreements with Altana
Pharma (now Nycomed) for ciclesonide and secured rights through
licensing and research agreements to Coley Pharmaceuticals' CpG
oligonucleotides in the respiratory field. He also led negotiations
resulting in the licensing of a Japanese Alzheimer's disease
treatment. Most recently, Mr. Piggott established and managed a
business intelligence group dedicated to supporting corporate
development activities at sanofi-aventis from 2005 to 2007.
"Chris' industry background coupled with his robust, successful
international business development experience makes him an ideal fit
for the Chief Business Officer position at Biotie," stated Dr. Timo
Veromaa, President & CEO of Biotie Therapies. "We are excited about
the prospect of leveraging Chris' expertise in negotiating and
closing in- and out-licensing partnerships. In conjunction with this
transition, I wish to extend my warmest thanks to Kai Lähdesmäki for
his pivotal role in establishing and successfully implementing
Biotie's partnering strategy. Kai's work provides a solid basis to
build on."
"I am excited to join Biotie Therapies at this important time in the
Company's development," said Chris Piggott. "I have been very
impressed with Biotie's corporate activities to date which include
notable deals with pharma partners such as Lundbeck for their
nalmefene program, Wyeth for their PDE10 schizophrenia program and
Roche for their VAP-1 antibody program. I look forward to working
with the management team to build upon and strengthen these current
partnerships, in addition to identifying, developing and executing on
new value-generating collaborative opportunities."
For further information:
Ms. Virve Nurmi
Investor relations manager
Biotie Therapies Corp.
tel. +358 2 274 8911, e-mail: virve.nurmi@biotie.com
Biotie Therapies Corp.
Biotie is a drug discovery and development company focused on central
nervous system and inflammatory diseases. It has a broad range of
innovative small molecule and biological drug candidates at different
stages of clinical and pre-clinical development. Biotie's products
address diseases with high unmet medical need and significant market
potential, including addiction and psychotic disorders, rheumatoid
arthritis, psoriasis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD). The most advanced product, nalmefene for alcohol dependence,
is currently in phase III clinical development by licensing partner
H. Lundbeck A/S.
The commercial value of the pipeline has been demonstrated through
existing alliances with top-tier global pharmaceutical companies such
as Lundbeck, Roche and Wyeth. Biotie has operations in Turku, Finland
and Radebeul, Germany. Shares are listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd.
This announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is
solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Copyright © Hugin AS 2009. All rights reserved.
