LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Abraxis BioScience, Inc., an integrated, global biopharmaceutical company, today confirmed that it intends to spin-off the Abraxis Health division this year.
“By spinning off Abraxis Health as an independent, stand-alone company, we believe we will enhance the intrinsic value of both companies by allowing each company to pursue its differing drug development and commercialization strategies,” said Patrick Soon-Shiong, M.D., Executive Chairman of Abraxis BioScience. “We also believe the spin-off will facilitate each company pursuing the most attractive long-term growth opportunities and business strategies, thereby maximizing shareholder value.”
Concurrently, Abraxis BioScience announced that Bruce J. Wendel has been appointed Vice Chairman of the board of directors and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Wendel succeeds Lonnie Moulder, who is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities. Dr. Soon-Shiong will continue as Executive Chairman of Abraxis BioScience. Following the spin-off, it is expected that Dr. Soon-Shiong will continue to serve as Executive Chairman of Abraxis BioScience and as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Abraxis Health. Mr. Wendel is anticipated to continue to serve as Chief Executive Officer of Abraxis BioScience following the spin-off.
Commenting on the appointment of Mr. Wendel, Dr. Soon-Shiong stated, “Bruce Wendel is an exemplary leader and seasoned pharmaceutical executive. He served in senior management positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb for fourteen years and worked for over twenty years in paclitaxel development and commercialization. His general management, leadership and significant corporate development expertise, coupled with over twenty-five years of pharmaceutical experience, make him an ideal candidate to lead our global organization. Additionally, Bruce has been with our organization through all of its transformative corporate transactions—from the merger of American BioScience and American Pharmaceutical Partners in 2006; the separation of APP Pharmaceuticals’ hospital-based business and Abraxis BioScience’s proprietary business in 2007; and to the sale of APP Pharmaceuticals to Fresenius SE in 2008.”
Abraxis BioScience also announced two additional senior members of the Abraxis Health leadership team—Mitchell K. Fogelman and Sanjay Gupta. Mr. Fogelman joined Abraxis BioScience in October 2009 as Senior Vice president of Finance. He will serve as the principal financial officer of the Abraxis Health division and is anticipated to serve as the Chief Financial Officer of Abraxis Health following the spin-off. Sanjay Gupta will be joining the organization as a senior executive from Intel Corporation and the Dossia Consortium, a consortium of top U.S. companies (Abraxis BioScience, AT&T, Applied Materials, BP America, Cardinal Health, Intel, Pitney Bowes, sanofi-aventis, Vanguard Health and Walmart) dedicated to empowering individuals to improve health and healthcare.
Bruce Wendel has served as a member of the board of directors of Abraxis BioScience since December 2009 and as Executive Vice President of Corporate Operations and Development since the separation of APP Pharmaceuticals and Abraxis BioScience in November 2007. Mr. Wendel previously served as Executive Vice President of Corporate Development at Abraxis BioScience from March 2006 to the date of the separation of APP Pharmaceuticals and Abraxis BioScience. Mr. Wendel joined American Pharmaceutical Partners in 2004 as Vice President of Corporate Development. He began his 14 years with Bristol-Myers Squibb as in-house counsel before shifting to global business and corporate development. Before joining APP, he served as Vice President, Business Development & Licensing for IVAX Corporation. Previously, Mr. Wendel served in the legal departments of Playtex and Combe. Mr. Wendel serves as a director of ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. He earned a juris doctorate degree from Georgetown University Law School where he was an editor of Law & Policy in International Business, and a B.S. from Cornell University.
Prior to joining Abraxis BioScience, Mr. Fogelman served as Senior Vice President of Finance, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of CytRx Corporation, a Nasdaq-listed biopharmaceutical research and development company, from September 2007 to December 2008. From 1982 to 2007, Mr. Fogelman worked at International Aluminum Corporation, a NYSE-listed manufacturer of commercial and residential building products, last serving as Senior Vice President-Finance, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary from June 2000 to August 2007. Mr. Fogelman is a CPA who worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP from 1975 to 1982. He earned his M.B.A. in finance and quantitative analysis from the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles, and his B.A. degree in mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Sanjay Gupta will be joining the organization as a senior executive and brings with him experience from Intel Corporation, where he served as director of social enterprise and in the Office of the Senior Vice President & General Counsel since July 2009. While at Intel, from March 2008 to July 2009, Mr. Gupta also served as Chief Financial Officer and Strategy Director at the Dossia Consortium, a consortium of top U.S. companies dedicated to empowering individuals to improve health and healthcare. Prior to Intel, he was a partner at Geo Health Partners, LLC, a venture capital firm focused on healthcare, emerging markets and technology, from 2006 to 2008 and managing director and founder of REALSTRATEGY, a boutique technology and strategy consultancy firm, from 1999 to 2006. Mr. Gupta earned his B.A. degree in bioethics from Georgetown University and his M.B.A. from the University of Oxford.
About Abraxis BioScience, Inc.
Abraxis BioScience is a fully integrated global biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery, development and delivery of next-generation therapeutics and core technologies that offer patients safer and more effective treatments for cancer and other critical illnesses. The company’s portfolio includes the world’s first and only protein-bound nanoparticle chemotherapeutic compound (ABRAXANE®), which is based on the company’s proprietary tumor targeting technology known as the nab® platform. The first FDA approved product to use this nab platform, ABRAXANE, was launched in 2005 for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer and is now approved in 39 countries. The company continues to expand the nab platform through a robust clinical program and deep product pipeline. Abraxis trades on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol ABII. For more information about the company and its products, please visit www.abraxisbio.com.
About Abraxis Health
Abraxis Health is establishing a fully-integrated, next-generation, evidence-based, personalized healthcare company dedicated to the discovery, development, validation and clinical application of next-generation diagnostics and therapeutics tailored to the specific molecular profiling of patient tissues and that will offer safer and more effective treatments for critical illnesses. Abraxis Health plans to develop a proprietary model for the delivery of healthcare, requiring a unique global computer software and hardware infrastructure that integrates patient data management, bioinformatics, discovery, molecular medicine and clinical development. Abraxis Health currently is designing and acquiring the necessary infrastructure and plans to acquire and internally develop the hardware and software modules to organize and integrate the data streams that form the foundation of this interactive database. In so doing, Abraxis Health will aim to deliver the right medicine to the right patient at the right time. Abraxis Health will develop, test and validate diagnostics and drugs to target pre-selected patients based on molecular profiles that predict drug response to particular therapeutics. This will enable the delivery of drugs to patients in a predictive, preventative and evidence-based manner, improving outcomes and pharmacoeconomics.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT
The statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements in this press release include statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, hopes, goals, intentions, initiatives or strategies, including statements regarding the proposed spin-off of the Abraxis Health division. The proposed spin-off is subject to a number of closing conditions, including final approval by our board of directors and the effectiveness of the registration statement registering the common stock of Abraxis Health to be distributed to our stockholders in connection with the spin-off. Because these forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, there are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, risks that the proposed spin-off disrupts current plans and operations and the potential difficulties in employee retention; the inability to recognize the benefits of the proposed spin-off; regulatory developments (domestic or foreign) involving the company’s manufacturing facilities; the market adoption and demand of ABRAXANE® and other products, the costs associated with the ongoing launch of ABRAXANE; research and development associated with the nab® technology platform; the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation; the impact of competitive products and pricing; the availability and pricing of ingredients used in the manufacture of pharmaceutical products; the ability to successfully manufacture products in a time-sensitive and cost effective manner; the acceptance and demand of new pharmaceutical products; and the impact of patents and other proprietary rights held by competitors and other third parties. Additional relevant information concerning risks can be found in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 and in other documents it has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The information contained in this press release is as of the date of this release. Abraxis assumes no obligations to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as the result of new information or future events or developments.
Contact:
Abraxis BioScience, Inc. Investors and Media Inquiries: Maili Bergman Director Investor Relations & Corporate Communications 310-883-1300 investorrelations@abraxisbio.com or PondelWilkinson Inc. Rob Whetstone, 310-279-5963
