Geneva, Switzerland, 4 September 2008 – PregLem SA, a Swiss biopharmaceutical company specialized in reproductive medicine, today announced that Dr. Fritz Kunz has joined its Board of Directors.
Fritz Kunz has had a long career in senior management and board positions in the Swiss pharma and medtech industry. A Swiss national and a chemist by training, he spent two decades at Swiss pharmaceutical company Sandoz (now Novartis), including as head of two preclinical research units as well as the human resources department. In the early 1990’s he was head of finance at Stratec Medical before serving as CEO of Institut Straumann, a Swiss manufacturer of dental implants, from 1994 to 1998. Dr. Kunz has served on the Board of Directors of several Swiss biopharma and medtech companies, including Straumann Holding (1998-2001), Sentec (since 2003) and Allevia (since 2007). A member of its Board of Directors since 1998, he has since 2000 served as Chairman of the Board of Speedel, a biopharma company (SWX: SPPN) specialized in cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, whose shareholders last month accepted a public tender offer by Novartis. In 2007 Dr. Kunz also became Chairman of the Board of Kuros Biosurgery, a private Swiss biomedical company developing novel injectable materials for localized therapies.
“I am delighted to join PregLem’s Board of Directors,” said Fritz Kunz. “The company has an exciting pipeline addressing unmet needs in major female reproductive health indications, with its lead product now in phase III trials. I look forward to contributing to PregLem’s successful future development.”
“Fritz Kunz brings with him extensive experience and an excellent track record in working with innovative biopharma and medtech companies to increase their value,” commented Werner Henrich, Chairman of PregLem’s Board of Directors. “We are very glad to have him on board.”
About PregLem PregLem SA is a Swiss specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative compounds for the treatment of major benign gynecological conditions as well as infertility. PregLem currently has four products in clinical and pre-clinical development. Its most advanced product, PGL4001, in-licensed from French pharmaceutical company HRA Pharma, entered Phase III clinical trials in August 2008 for the treatment of uterine myoma, a highly common benign tumor in women of reproductive age. PregLem raised CHF 68 million from leading life science investors in Series A and B funding rounds in 2007. The company obtained SME status from the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) in November 2007. PregLem was founded in Geneva in 2006 by Ernest Loumaye and Eric Rolin.
More information is available at www.preglem.com.
For further information, please contact:
Solveig Hole, PregLem CEO office, Tel: +41 22 884 03 40, Email: solveig.hole@preglem.com
Dr. Jonathan Leighton, Leighton Communications, Tel: +41 76 559 67 88, Email: jonl@sunrise.ch
