Topotarget A/S
Symbion
Fruebjergvej 3
DK 2100 Copenhagen
Denmark
Tel: +45 39 17 83 92
Fax: +45 39 17 94 92
CVR-nr: 25695771
www.topotarget.com
Copenhagen, Denmark - 17 November 2010 - Topotarget A/S (NASDAQ OMX: TOPO)
announces that Dr. Axel Mescheder will join Topotarget as Chief Medical Officer
and Ms. Inge Holm Lauritzen as VP Business Development and Licensing/Strategic
Planning as of 1 December 2010.
About Dr. Mescheder:
Effective from 1 December 2010 Dr. Axel Mescheder has accepted the position as
Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at Topotarget A/S. He will report to the CEO, Dr.
Francois Martelet.
Dr. Mescheder joins Topotarget from MediGene AG in Germany, where he served as
Chief Medical & Development Officer and also previously as Vice President, R&D.
Dr. Mescheder is a Medical Doctor from the University of Kiel in Germany with
full medical specialization in Pharmacology and Toxicology.
Previously, Dr. Mescheder worked in the international pharmaceutical and
biotech industry with F. Hoffmann-LaRoche, Aventis-Behring, Genetics
Institute/Wyeth and MorphoSys in a variety of managing roles of increasing
seniority.
Dr. Mescheder holds a successful track record within clinical development,
registration and launch activities in Europe as well as USA for products like
Roferon A®, InductOs® and Tygacil®. Furthermore Dr. Mescheder lead the clinical
teams who obtained approval of Eligard® (EU), Veregen/Polyphenon® (USA/EU) and
Oracea (EU).
Dr. Axel Mescheder's 20 years of extensive clinical development and
registration expertise will be key in Topotarget's efforts driving the
development of belinostat in Europe and USA forward together with Spectrum,
Topotarget's USA partner.
About Ms. Lauritzen:
Also effective from 1 December 2010, Ms. Inge Holm Lauritzen has accepted the
position as VP Business Development & Licensing/Strategic Planning. Ms.
Lauritzen will report to the CEO, Dr. Francois Martelet.
Ms. Lauritzen is a senior biotech and pharma executive joining Topotarget with
more than 15 years of experience in the industry and she holds a BSc in
Chemical Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark.
Previously Ms. Lauritzen worked with H. Lundbeck A/S and Boehringer Mannheim
and more recently with Novozymes in Denmark, where she served as Director,
Biopharma Partnering.
Ms. Lauritzen holds a successful track record within deal-making and she has
been involved in numerous in- and out-licensing activities.
At Topotarget, Ms. Lauritzen will be responsible for all business development
activities, including the key Topotarget-Spectrum alliance as well as the
corporate strategic planning process. Ms. Lauritzen will be based at
Topotarget's Danish location at the Symbion Science Park.
By entering the management team, Ms. Lauritzen will contribute with a
significant upgrade of Topotarget's business development capabilities.
Furthermore her contribution is set to enhance the internal capabilities within
strategic planning in close collaboration with the Topotarget Finance
Department.
Today's news does not change Topotarget's full-year financial guidance.
Topotarget A/S
For further information, please contact:
Francois Martelet, CEO: Direct: +45 39 17 83 43; Mobile: +45 51 32 83 41
Anders Vadsholt, CFO: Direct: +45 39 17 83 45; Mobile: +45 28 98 90 55
Background information
About Topotarget
Topotarget (NASDAQ OMX: TOPO) is a Scandinavian based international biotech
company headquartered in Denmark, dedicated to improve cancer therapies. In
collaboration with Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Topotarget currently focuses
on the development in pivotal studies of its lead drug candidate, belinostat,
which has demonstrated a clear anti neoplastic effect in both hematological
malignancies and solid tumors. Belinostat can be used in combination with full
doses of chemotherapy, and is currently in a pivotal trial within PTCL
(peripheral T-cell lymphoma) and phase II in cancer of unknown primary (CUP).
Topotarget's key cancer drugs target HDAC, NAD+, mTOR, Fas ligand and
topoisomerase II. Savene®/Totect® is the first product on the market from
Topotarget's drug discovery technology. Totect® is marketed by the company's
own sales specialists in the US. The European rights to, Savene®, were divested
in March 2010 as a consequence of the focus to develop and commercialize
belinostat. For more information, please refer to www.topotarget.com.
Topotarget Safe Harbour Statement
This announcement may contain forward-looking statements, including statements
about our expectations of the progression of our preclinical and clinical
pipeline including the timing for commencement and completion of clinical
trials and with respect to cash burn guidance. Such statements are based on
management's current expectations and are subject to a number of risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
described in the forward-looking statements. Topotarget cautions investors that
there can be no assurance that actual results or business conditions will not
differ materially from those projected or suggested in such forward-looking
statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the
following: The risk that any one or more of the drug development programs of
Topotarget will not proceed as planned for technical, scientific or commercial
reasons or due to patient enrolment issues or based on new information from
non-clinical or clinical studies or from other sources; the success of
competing products and technologies; technological uncertainty and product
development risks; uncertainty of additional funding; Topotarget's history of
incurring losses and the uncertainty of achieving profitability; Topotarget's
stage of development as a biopharmaceutical company; government regulation;
patent infringement claims against Topotarget's products, processes and
technologies; the ability to protect Topotarget's patents and proprietary
rights; uncertainties relating to commercialization rights; and product
liability exposure; We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise
any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future
events, or otherwise, unless required by law.
