Santhera Appoints MJ Roach as Vice President Marketing and Sales

 

Liestal, Switzerland - Santhera Pharmaceuticals, a Swiss specialty pharmaceutical company with a focus on neuromuscular diseases, announced today that it has appointed Ms. MJ Roach as Vice President Marketing and Sales. Her appointment is an important step in the Company's preparation for the planned commercialization of SNT-MC17/idebenone in the US for the treatment of its lead indication, Friedreich's Ataxia (FRDA), a rare but devastating neuromuscular disease which is ultimately fatal. The compound is also in development for the treatment of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, another orphan neuromuscular disease. Ms. Roach will also be providing support for the planned European launch of SNT-MC17/idebenone in FRDA which is being handled by Santhera's marketing partner, Takeda Pharmaceuticals.

 

MJ Roach joins Santhera with over 20 years marketing, sales and senior management experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Ms. Roach joined Santhera from Biogen Idec where she was Director, Global Brand Management. In this position she led the global commercialization of the Biogen Idec's dermatology products, Panaclar (dimethyl fumarate) and Amevive (alefacept), both of which were developed for the treatment of psoriasis. Prior to joining Biogen Idec, Ms. Roach worked at Wyeth where she was Global Strategy and New Product Director in Women's Healthcare. At Wyeth, she developed and executed the global commercial strategy for the company's new contraceptive and hormone replacement products. Ms. Roach started her career in hospital sales with Armour Pharmaceutical, a hemophilia focused company, which eventually became part of Rhône Poulenc Rorer (RPR) Pharmaceutical. There she gained hands on experience as she advanced in sales and marketing positions at RPR before she joined Wyeth as the US Marketing Director for Premarin in 1998.

 

"I am delighted that we have been able to attract someone with MJ's background and expertise to Santhera. Her knowledge and hands on experience of launching and developing the sales of high value niche products both in the US and internationally will be extremely important for our future success. With SNT-MC17/idebenone in Phase III clinical trials, now is the appropriate time for us to invest in the product's marketing and pre-launch activities. We need to ensure that we position ourselves to successfully commercialize SNT-MC17/idebenone," said Dr. Klaus Schollmeier, Santhera's CEO.

 

MJ Roach, VP Marketing and Sales of Santhera, commented: "I am glad to have had the opportunity to join Santhera, a company with significant ambition in the area of severe neuromuscular disease. I am excited to be driving the commercialization of SNT-MC17/
idebenone, particularly in the US where we plan to build our sales and marketing infrastructure. Based on the promising clinical data that we have generated to-date, I am very hopeful that we will be in a position to introduce SNT-MC17/idebenone as the first approved treatment for the FRDA patients seeking relief from this disabling and fatal disease."

 

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Santhera Pharmaceuticals is a Swiss specialty pharmaceutical company focusing on the discovery, development and marketing of small molecule pharmaceutical products for the treatment of severe neuromuscular diseases. Santhera's vision is to become a leading specialty pharmaceutical company offering therapies for a number of indications in this area of high unmet medical need which includes many orphan indications with no current therapy. Santhera has a proven track record in discovering and developing drug candidates that address severe neuromuscular disorders in orphan and ultra-orphan diseases.

 

Santhera currently has three clinical stage development programs, two of which are investigating its lead compound, SNT-MC17/idebenone, in the treatment of Friedreich's Ataxia (FRDA) and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). The third clinical program is investigating JP-1730/fipamezole for the treatment of Dyskinesia in Parkinson's Disease (DPD) in cooperation with Juvantia. The most advanced program, SNT-MC17/idebenone in FRDA, has entered pivotal Phase III clinical trials; the other clinical programs are in Phase II. There are currently no effective treatments available for FRDA. Treatments currently in use for DMD and DPD are generally viewed by the medical community as inadequate. Santhera's drug pipeline comprises another three preclinical programs in cancer cachexia, DMD and diabetes (out licensed to Biovitrum)

 

Santhera was formed in 2004 through a business combination of MyoContract AG and Graffinity Pharmaceuticals AG. The Company is based in Liestal, Switzerland. Santhera has attracted investment from leading global industry investors including NGN Capital, Merlin Biosciences Limited, 3i Group plc, Varuma AG, Oxford Bioscience Partners, the Novartis Venture Fund, Heidelberg Innovation, GIMV, Carnegie Asset Management, TechnoStart, Clariden Biotechnology Fund, the Swiss Foundation for Research on Muscle Diseases, The Dow Chemical Company, Altana Innovationsfonds, tbg, and private investors.

 

For further information on Santhera, please visit www.santhera.com.

 

 

Klaus Schollmeier, Chief Executive Officer

Phone: +41 (0) 61 906 89 52

 

Thomas Staffelbach, VP Public & Investor Relations

Phone: +41 (0) 61 906 89 47

 

 

David Dible

Phone: +44 (0) 207 638 9571

 

Chris Gardner

Phone: +44 (0) 207 638 9571