Algeta Appoints Dr Andreas Menrad as Chief Scientific Officer

OSLO, NORWAY--(Marketwired - August 19, 2013) - Algeta ASA (OSE: ALGETA), a company focused on the development of novel targeted cancer therapeutics, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Andreas Menrad as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) and member of the executive management team. In this newly created role, Dr Menrad will be responsible for developing and executing the Company’s research strategy, including its Targeted Thorium Conjugate (TTC) platform. He will lead a rapidly growing and highly experienced R&D team. Dr Menrad will report directly to Andrew Kay, Algeta’s President & CEO, and takes up his position immediately.

Dr Menrad brings more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, with a strong background in oncology therapeutic development. He joins Algeta from Ablynx NV, where he was CSO. Prior to this, Dr Menrad spent five years at Genzyme (Sanofi) in Cambridge (UK), where most recently he held the role of General Manager and Vice President of Antibody Therapeutics. Before that, he spent 15 years at Schering AG in senior research roles focused on oncology and antibody engineering. He is an author on more than 30 patents and more than 25 peer-reviewed publications. Dr Menrad received his PhD in Immunology from the University of Stuttgart and conducted post-doctoral research at the Wistar Institute Cancer Center (Philadelphia, PA, USA).

With the appointment of Dr Menrad, Dr Thomas Ramdahl, the Company’s Executive Vice President will become Algeta’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) with responsibilities for key aspects of the Company’s European operations, its global manufacturing assets as well as the intellectual property portfolio.

Andrew Kay, Algeta’s President & CEO, said: “Andreas brings a wealth of complementary skills and experience to Algeta from his successful career in therapeutic research and development. We are confident that, in this key strategic leadership role, he will guide the development and direction of our research team as we seek to create a pipeline of development candidates. I would also like to congratulate Thomas on his appointment as Algeta’s COO, a new position that reflects the Company’s commercial evolution and our global manufacturing capabilities.”

Andreas Menrad, Algeta’s Chief Scientific Officer, added: “Algeta has an exceptional opportunity to establish a leading position in the field of targeted cancer therapeutics, including via its unique thorium-227 alpha-pharmaceutical payload. I am excited to join the Company at a time of significant momentum and I look forward to working to further develop and advance Algeta’s world-class technologies and capabilities.”

About Algeta

Algeta is a company focused on developing novel targeted therapies for patients with cancer based on its alpha-pharmaceutical platform. The Company is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, and has a US subsidiary, Algeta US, LLC, based in Cambridge, MA performing commercial marketing operations in the US. Algeta is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (Ticker: ALGETA). For more information please visit www.algeta.com.

Forward-looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements that are based on uncertainty, as they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future and which, by their nature, may have an impact on results of operations and the financial condition of Algeta. Such forward-looking statements reflect our current views and are based on the information currently available to Algeta. Algeta cannot give any assurance as to whether such forward looking statements will prove to be correct. These forward looking statements include statements regarding future development activities generally and our TTC program in particular. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These factors include, among other things, risks or uncertainties associated with the success of future clinical trials, collaborations with other companies in the development of targeting molecules, general economic and business conditions and difficulties of obtaining relevant governmental approvals for new products, and the other risks and uncertainties described in our annual report.

Press release:

http://hugin.info/134655/R/1723318/574292.pdf

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Source: Algeta ASA via Thomson Reuters ONE

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