CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun. 1, 2015--
POZEN Inc. (NASDAQ: POZN), a pharmaceutical company committed to
developing medicine that transforms lives, today announced that John R.
Plachetka, Pharm.D., its founder, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and
President is retiring, effective immediately. Dr. Plachetka has also
resigned from the Board of Directors of POZEN and has withdrawn as a
nominee for election as a director at the 2015 Annual Meeting of
Stockholders.
Arthur Kirsch, who has served as an independent director since 2004, has
been appointed to serve as Chairman of POZEN’s Board of Directors.
Mr. Kirsch stated “John’s contributions as founder, inventor, and chief
scientist of POZEN will be hard to replace. He has been the driving
force in POZEN’s development for nearly 20 years and we respect his
decision to retire. All of the management team and the Board of
Directors thank him for his long service as our Chairman, President and
Chief Executive Officer.”
The Board of Directors has appointed Adrian Adams to replace Dr.
Plachetka as POZEN’s Chief Executive Officer and has also appointed Mr.
Adams to serve on the Board of Directors, effective immediately.
“I want to express my gratitude to all the POZEN employees with whom
I’ve worked, who brought two outstanding drugs to market, Treximet®
and VIMOVO®, and who moved YOSPRALA™ into a position where it
should be ready for commercialization next year,” stated Dr. Plachetka.
“Now, it is time to move POZEN to the next level and I am very pleased
that Adrian and his team have agreed to assume this responsibility. All
of the shareholders of POZEN should be very happy that a man of his
talent and accomplishments has the confidence in POZEN and YOSPRALA to
assume this responsibility. I wish him and POZEN all the best.”
Mr. Adams is a highly qualified pharmaceutical executive with over 30
years of experience in the industry and a reputation for growing
organizations by excellence in commercialization and by executing on
business development opportunities that deliver compelling growth and
value for shareholders. He most recently served as Chief Executive
Officer and President of Auxilium Pharmaceuticals Inc., a specialty
pharmaceutical company, until its acquisition by Endo International plc
in January 2015. Prior to joining Auxilium, Mr. Adams served as Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer of Neurologix, Inc., a company focused on
development of multiple innovative gene therapies for disorders of the
brain and central nervous system. Prior to that Mr. Adams served as
President and Chief Executive Officer of Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc.,
where he oversaw the commercialization and development of prescription
pharmaceutical products and led the company through a strategic
acquisition by global pharmaceutical leader Merck & Co., Inc. Prior to
Inspire, Mr. Adams served as President and Chief Executive Officer of
Sepracor Inc. until its acquisition by Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co.
Prior to joining Sepracor, Mr. Adams was President and Chief Executive
Officer of Kos Pharmaceuticals, Inc. until its acquisition by Abbott
Laboratories. Mr. Adams has also held general management and senior
international and national marketing positions at SmithKline Beecham,
Novartis and ICI (now part of AstraZeneca).
“This is a key appointment at an important time for POZEN and we are
certain Adrian’s leadership qualities combined with his operational
expertise and ability to drive strategic corporate development
initiative makes him the right person to position the company for its
next stage of growth,” Mr. Kirsch stated. “He has successfully led four
public companies in the face of the rapidly changing healthcare
environment and brings extensive global experience launching and
commercializing innovative pharmaceutical products. This experience will
be critical in helping POZEN in assessing our strategic options at this
time and leading YOSPRALA through the final anticipated stages of
approval and into commercial launch.”
POZEN also announced that the Board of Directors has appointed Andrew
Koven as President and Chief Business Officer, reporting to Mr. Adams.
Mr. Koven most recently served as Chief Administrative Officer and
General Counsel of Auxilium Pharmaceuticals Inc. Prior to joining
Auxilium, Mr. Koven served as President and Chief Administrative Officer
of Neurologix, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative and
Legal Officer at Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Executive Vice
President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Sepracor and
Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Kos
Pharmaceuticals and General Counsel and Secretary at Lavipharm
Corporation. Mr. Koven’s industry experience also includes positions in
the legal departments at Warner Lambert Company and as a corporate
securities associate at Cahill Gordon and Reindell.
“Andrew and I are pleased to join the leadership team at POZEN,” said
Mr. Adams. “We look forward to working with the Board and management
team to drive the approval and commercialization of YOSPRALA and,
working with our partners to maximize the value of Treximet and
VIMOVO. Building on POZEN’s strong foundation, we will focus on finding
other product and corporate development opportunities to broaden our
overall portfolio and position POZEN to achieve its full potential with
the aim of driving additional shareholder value.”
As an inducement to their employment, the Company has approved the
granting of equity awards in the form of restricted stock units (“RSUs’)
equal to 5.4% of the equity of the Company to Mr. Adams and RSUs equal
to 4.1% of the equity of the Company to Mr. Koven, subject to applicable
NASDAQ listing and SEC registration requirements. The awards are being
made pursuant to the NASDAQ inducement grant exception as a component of
these new executives’ employment compensation. The inducement grants
were approved by the Company’s Compensation Committee as part of the
approval of the executives’ employment agreements and is being made as
an inducement material to each executive’s acceptance of employment with
the Company in accordance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). The RSUs
will vest on an annual basis ratably over four years, subject to
continued service with the Company through the applicable vesting dates
and a portion of the RSUs granted to Mr. Adams and Mr. Koven will be
subject to forfeiture under certain circumstances.
About POZEN
POZEN Inc. is a small pharmaceutical company that specializes in
developing novel therapeutics for unmet medical needs and licensing
those products to other pharmaceutical companies for commercialization.
By utilizing a unique in-source model and focusing on integrated
therapies, POZEN has successfully developed and obtained FDA approval of
two self-invented products. Funded by these milestones/royalty streams,
POZEN has created a portfolio of cost-effective, evidence-based
integrated aspirin therapies designed to enable the full power of
aspirin by reducing its GI damage.
The Company's common stock is traded under the symbol “POZN” on The
NASDAQ Global Market. For more detailed company information, including
copies of this and other press releases, please visit www.POZEN.com.
About YOSPRALA
POZEN has created a portfolio of investigational integrated aspirin
therapies - the PA product platform. The products in the PA portfolio
are being developed with the goal of significantly reducing GI ulcers
and other GI complications compared to taking enteric-coated or plain
aspirin alone.
The first candidates are YOSPRALA 81/40, containing 81 mg of aspirin,
and YOSPRALA 325/40, containing 325 mg of aspirin. Both products are a
coordinated-delivery tablet combining immediate-release omeprazole (40
mg), a proton pump inhibitor, layered around a pH-sensitive coating of
an aspirin core. This novel, patented product is intended for oral
administration once a day and an indication is being sought for use for
the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease in patients at risk
for aspirin-induced gastric ulcers.
About VIMOVO
VIMOVO® (naproxen / esomeprazole magnesium) is a fixed-dose
combination of delayed-release enteric-coated naproxen, a non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), and immediate-release esomeprazole
magnesium, a stomach acid-reducing proton pump inhibitor (PPI), approved
for the relief of signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid
arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis and to decrease the risk of
developing gastric ulcers in patients at risk of developing
NSAID-associated gastric ulcers. VIMOVO is not recommended for use in
children younger than 18 years of age. VIMOVO is not recommended for
initial treatment of acute pain because the absorption of naproxen is
delayed compared to absorption from other naproxen-containing products.
Controlled studies do not extend beyond six months. VIMOVO should be
used at the lowest dose and for the shortest amount of time as directed
by your health care provider.
For Full Prescribing Information see www.VIMOVO.com.
About Treximet
Treximet® (sumatriptan / naproxen sodium) was approved by the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April 2008 for the acute
treatment of migraine attacks, with or without aura, in adults. The
product is formulated with POZEN’s patented technology of combining a
triptan with a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and
GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) RT Technology™. This migraine medication
contains sumatriptan, a 5-HT1 receptor agonist that mediates
vasoconstriction of the human basilar artery and vasculature of human
dura mater, which correlates with the relief of migraine headache. It
also contains naproxen, an NSAID that inhibits the synthesis of
inflammatory mediators. Therefore, sumatriptan and naproxen contribute
to the relief of migraine through pharmacologically different mechanisms
of action. As a result of this dual mechanism of action, Treximet has
been shown to provide superior sustained pain relief compared to placebo
and to both of the single mechanism of action components.
For Full Prescribing Information see www.treximet.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements included in this press release that are not historical in
nature are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe
harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. You should be aware that our actual results, our ability to return
value to our stockholders, including any cash distributions, and our
future prospects could differ materially from those contained in the
forward-looking statements, which are based on current market data and
research (including third party and POZEN sponsored market studies and
reports), management’s current expectations and are subject to a number
of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, our inability
to further license our YOSPRALA product candidates on terms and timing
acceptable to us, our failure to successfully commercialize our product
candidates, including YOSPRALA; costs and delays in the development
and/or FDA approval of our product candidates, including YOSPRALA, as a
result of the need to conduct additional studies or due to issues with
third-party manufacturers, or the failure to obtain such approval of our
product candidates for all expected indications, including as a result
of changes in regulatory standards or the regulatory environment during
the development period of any of our product candidates; uncertainties
in clinical trial results or the timing of such trials, resulting in,
among other things, an extension in the period over which we recognize
deferred revenue or our failure to achieve milestones that would have
provided us with revenue; our inability to maintain or enter into, and
the risks resulting from our dependence upon, collaboration or
contractual arrangements necessary for the development, manufacture,
commercialization, marketing, sales and distribution of any products,
including our dependence on AstraZeneca and Horizon for the sales and
marketing of VIMOVO®, our dependence on Patheon and our active
ingredient suppliers for the manufacture of YOSPRALA 81/40 and YOSPRALA
325/40; competitive factors; our inability to protect our patents or
proprietary rights and obtain necessary rights to third party patents
and intellectual property to operate our business; our inability to
operate our business without infringing the patents and proprietary
rights of others; general economic conditions; the failure of any
products to gain market acceptance; our inability to obtain any
additional required financing; technological changes; government
regulation; changes in industry practice; and one-time events, including
those discussed herein and in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the
period ended March 31, 2015. We do not intend to update any of these
factors or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to these
forward-looking statements.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150601005457/en/
Source: POZEN Inc.
POZEN Inc.
Bill Hodges, 919-913-1030
Chief
Financial Officer
or
Stephanie Bonestell,
919-913-1030
Manager, Investor Relations & Public Relations
