VILLA GUARDIA, Italy, Nov. 22, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gentium S.p.A. (Nasdaq:GENT) (the "Company") today announced the establishment of a wholly owned subsidiary Gentium GmbH, located in Zug, Switzerland, as the headquarters for its commercial operations as well as the appointment of key members of the commercial leadership team who will be responsible for the global commercialization of Defibrotide once marketing approval for Defibrotide is obtained. The team plans to provide a direct sales force in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom and to manage sales through several distributor partners for the rest of the world. Prior to marketing approval for Defibrotide, the team will oversee the named-patient program.
"These key appointments in our commercial infrastructure will ensure access to most of the European markets while we continue to establish a network of distributor partners throughout the rest of the world," commented Dr. Khalid Islam, Chairman & CEO, Gentium S.p.A.
"I am delighted that we have been able to attract such a highly experienced group of people to assist us in increasing the awareness of Defibrotide in Europe and prepare Defibrotide for introduction to the market post approval," said Adrian Haigh, SVP Commercial Operations.
Reporting to Mr. Haigh are the following individuals:
Mr. Georges O'Rourke, Country Manager France. Mr. O'Rourke joins Gentium from Biomarin, where he was employed as a Sr. Director Europe. Previous roles have also included Commercial Director Europe at Jerini AG, General Manager, France at Valeant and Elan and in sales, marketing and country management positions at Eli Lily. He has been responsible for building commercial teams at these companies and others throughout his career.
Mr. Karl Appelmann, Country Manager, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Mr. Appelmann has had a varied career in large and small organizations. He joins Gentium from Virologik, a privately held discovery company where was CEO. Prior to that, he has worked for Teva and Nycomed as Marketing Director and Managing Director, and has held sales and marketing positions at Fujisawa and Boots.
Mr. Giancarlo Parisi, Country Manager, Italy. Giancarlo has considerable experience in both haematology and in building start-up commercial organizations in Italy. He joins Gentium from Genzyme, where he was the Haematology Business Unit Head, a position he held since the acquisition of Bioenvision by Genzyme. At Bioenvision, he was responsible for establishing the company in Italy. Prior to that, he held sales and marketing positions of increasing responsibility at Schering-Plough, Sankyo and Molteni.
Mr. Juan Diaz, Country Manager, Spain and Portugal. Mr. Diaz joins Gentium from Novo Nordisk, where has had a highly successful 22-year career in specialty sales and marketing. His last position was Director of the Biopharmaceutical Business Unit, where he was responsible for the haematology and growth hormone business in Spain and Portugal.
Mr. Steven Slack, Country Manager, United Kingdom, Ireland and Benelux. Mr. Slack has spent almost his entire career specializing in haematology sales and marketing. Most recently, he spent six years as General Manager for Pharmion UK, Ireland, Benelux and Nordics, where he was responsible for building the commercial team and spent some time as Global Brand Leader. Earlier in his career, he worked both globally and locally in haematology sales and marketing for Chiron, Incyte Genomics and Schering-Plough. Mr. Slack is a member of the Executive Committee at Myeloma UK Clinical Research and Development, a charity focused exclusively on patients with Myeloma.
Dr. Catherijne (Carin) Heringa M.D., Head of Global Medical Affairs. Dr. Heringa joins Gentium from Novartis, where she was Medical Director for the European Integrated Hospital Care business. She is an accomplished international pharmaceutical physician, whose 22 years in the industry includes clinical development and project leadership of international drug development programs as well as significant international and European medical affairs experience, including the establishment of new local affiliate medical departments. Dr. Heringa graduated from the Free University of Amsterdam and completed her MD thesis in Gastroenterology. She started her career in the pharmaceutical industry with Gist Brocades and held positions of increasing responsibility with Yamanouchi, (which subsequently became Astellas), before joining Novartis in 2006 .
Mr. Peter Ogram, Marketing Director. Mr. Ogram joins Gentium from Amgen, where in his last role he was responsible for the management of a number of distributors in Latin America and the Middle East. During his nine-year career at Amgen, he worked in Human Resources, Business Planning and Analysis and Distributor Management.
About Gentium
Gentium S.p.A., located in Como, Italy, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and manufacture of drugs to treat and prevent a variety of diseases and conditions, including vascular diseases related to cancer and cancer treatments. Defibrotide, the Company's lead product candidate, is an investigational drug that has been granted Orphan Drug status by the U.S. FDA and Orphan Medicinal Product Designation by the European Commission both to treat and to prevent VOD and Fast Track Designation by the U.S. FDA to treat VOD.
About VOD
Veno-occlusive disease (VOD) is a potentially life-threatening condition, which typically occurs as a result of a significant complication of stem cell transplantation. Certain high-dose conditioning regimens used as part of stem cell transplants (SCT) can damage the lining cells of hepatic blood vessels and result in VOD, a blockage of the small veins of the liver that leads to liver failure and can result in significant dysfunction of other organs such as the kidneys and lungs (so-called severe VOD). SCT is a frequently used treatment modality following high-dose chemotherapy and radiation therapy for hematologic cancers and other conditions in both adults and children. There is currently no approved agent for the treatment or prevention of VOD in the United States or the European Union.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements." In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or "continue," the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent the Company's belief regarding future results, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside the Company's control. It is possible that actual results, including with respect to any financial forecast or the possibility of any future regulatory approval, may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. For a discussion of some of the risks and important factors that could affect future results, see the discussion in the Company's Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the caption "Risk Factors."