TOKYO, May 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sosei Group Corporation , a biopharmaceutical company, today announces changes to its Board of Directors subject to the approval of the shareholders at the Annual Shareholders Meeting in June.
New Non-executive Directors
Dr Declan Doogan was, until recently, Head of Worldwide Development for Pfizer Global Research and Development based in New York. In total, Dr Doogan's career with Pfizer spanned 25 years in various medical and R&D positions. During this time Declan spent almost 5 years based in Japan most recently as Senior Vice President of Development, Pfizer, Japan. Currently Declan is Visiting Professor of Drug Development Science at Kitasato University, Tokyo.
Mr Eiji Katayama, an Attorney at Law (in Japan and the US) and a Patent Attorney, is a partner with the Tokyo law firm Abe, Ikubo & Katayama. Currently Eiji is also a non-executive director of Seikagaku Corporation and an auditor of Mitsubishi Trust and Banking Corporation. Eiji's career also includes Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co Ltd (now Astellas Pharma Inc).
Dr Alan Lewis was President and CEO of Signal Pharmaceuticals Inc in the USA. When Signal was acquired by Celgene Corporation Dr Lewis became President, Signal Research Division, Celgene. Prior to that, he spent 15 years with Wyeth most recently as Vice President of Research, Wyeth-Ayerst. Currently Alan is President and CEO of Novocell.
Mr Isao Muramatsu was President and Representative Director of SmithKline Beecham, Japan and then board member of Glaxo SmithKline, Japan and he has over 30 years experience within the pharmaceutical industry. Currently Isao is a non-executive director of Santen Pharmaceutical Co Ltd and Chairman of IWNC.
New Executive Director
Dr Robin Bannister is a founder of Arakis Ltd, the company acquired by Sosei in 2005. Currently, Robin is Managing Director of Sosei R&D Ltd (previously Arakis) and Executive Vice President, Sosei Group Corporation. Previously Robin was with Celltech plc, Chiroscience plc and SmithKiline Beecham plc.
Existing directors Dr David Chiswell and Sir Mark Richmond have decided not to stand for re-appointment. Sir Mark has advised Sosei for a number of years, initially as Chairman of its Scientific Advisory Board, and as a director since December 2003. David also joined the board in December 2003 and was appointed Chairman of the board in March 2005.
Mr Shinichi Tamura, President & CEO of Sosei, said: "I warmly welcome our new non-executive directors to the board. Their combined breadth of experience will provide Sosei with sound independent direction as we progress towards our goal of becoming a profitable leading global biotech company. I would also like to congratulate Robin Bannister on his appointment to the board. At the same time, on behalf of the directors and employees of the company, I would like to express our appreciation to David and Sir Mark for their contribution to Sosei's evolution, including its IPO on the TSE Mothers index, the groundbreaking acquisition of Sosei R&D in the UK and the follow-on fundraising earlier this year. We thank them for their valuable support and insight and wish them both well."
Dr Declan Doogan, on behalf of the new non-executive directors, said "We are excited about the prospect of working with Sosei during a period which is expected to be transformational for the company. Personally, I am pleased to be joining an enthusiastic innovative organisation with such a rich pipeline in addition to its recent achievement in further developing its cancer breakthrough pain product."
In addition to the above, Shinichi Tamura, President and CEO and Takuya Fujii, non-executive director have been recommended for re-appointment to the board by the Nominations Committee.
The proposed changes reflect the company's objective of becoming a leading global biotech company with a Japanese origin and the expectation that as Sosei moves closer towards revenue generation it will expand globally, especially in the USA.
Notes for Editors:
About Sosei
Sosei Group Corporation. is a leading international biopharmaceutical company with significant expertise in product discovery and development. It has established a reduced risk business model primarily upon identifying new uses for established drugs and exploiting its unique position within Japanese, European and North American pharmaceutical markets by acquiring compounds from, and bringing compounds into, Japan.
For further information about Sosei, please visit www.sosei.com
Sosei Group CorporationCONTACT: Sosei Group Corporation, Ichiban-cho FS Bldg., 8 Ichiban-cho,Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0082 Japan, Hiroki Maekawa, Representative ExecutiveOfficer, E-mail: hmaekawa@sosei.com, Tel: +81-3-5210-3399, Fax:+81-3-5210-3291; Sosei R&D Ltd., Chesterford Research Park, Saffron Walden,CB10 1XL England, John Daffurn, SVP Corporate Development, E-mail:daffurnj@sosei.com, Tel: +44-1799-532-350, Fax: +44-1799-532-351; FinancialDynamics, Julia Phillips, Tel: +44-207-831-3113; The Trout Group, ThomasFechtner, Tel: +1-646-378-2931; Brandon Lewis, Tel: +1-646-378-2915
