SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pharmacyclics, Inc.
(Nasdaq: PCYC), a developmental stage biopharmaceutical company with four drug
candidates in clinical testing and several late stage preclinical programs,
announced today the appointment of a new management team and a new board
member.
Robert W. Duggan, our Chairman of the Board, has been appointed CEO of the
company after acting as interim CEO for the past five months. Mr. Duggan is
considered one of the founders of robotic surgery. He served as Chairman of
the Board of Directors of Computer Motion, Inc., a computerized surgical
systems company, from 1990 to 2003 and Chief Executive Officer from 1997.
Computer Motion was acquired by Intuitive Surgical, Inc. in 2003. Mr. Duggan
currently serves as a director of Intuitive Surgical, Inc. Mr. Duggan has been
a private venture investor for more than 30 years and has participated as a
director of, investor in and advisor to numerous small and large businesses in
the medical equipment, computer local and wide area network, PC hardware and
software distribution, digital encryption, consumer retail goods and outdoor
media communication industries. He received the Congressman's Medal of Merit
and in 2000 he was named a Knight of the Legion of Honor by President Jacques
Chirac. He is a member of the University of California at Santa Barbara
Foundation Board of Trustees. Mr. Duggan has been a member of Pharmacyclics'
Board of Directors since September 2007.
Glenn C. Rice, Ph.D has been appointed President and COO. Dr. Rice has
over 25 years of oncology drug development experience in the biopharmaceutical
industry including research, preclinical and clinical trials as well as
extensive experience in licensing, partnerships and M&A. He was the CEO and
Founder of Bridge Laboratories (a large and pioneering international drug
development contract research organization); Vice President of Biosciences at
SRI International (management of 180 scientists and staff), Vice President of
Research for ILEX Oncology, a NASDAQ listed company, (acquired by Genzyme for
$1B) and CEO and founder of Convergence Pharmaceuticals (acquired by ILEX). He
has also co-founded the Critical Path Institute (a not for profit focused on
regulatory innovation in Tucson AZ), EmergingMed, Inc. (a web based clinical
trial prequalification and management service), and was part of the initial
founding management of Cytokine Networks, Inc. Dr. Rice is currently an
inventor on over 20 patents or patent applications and has authored over 75
manuscripts and book chapters.
Mr. Duggan commented, "Pharmacyclics has already benefitted greatly from
Glenn's extensive biotechnology research and product development background
that includes oncology, inflammation, neurobiology and cardiovascular
diseases. Glenn's experience in regulatory affairs, international business
development and fundraising will be an added plus as we evaluate opportunities
to grow our business."
Dr. Maky Zanganeh has been previously appointed as Vice President of
Business Development for Pharmacyclics. Dr. Zanganeh most recently accepted a
position as Director General for the French government initiative biocluster
project in France. Prior to that she served as Vice President of Business
Development for Robert Duggan & Associates. From 1998 to 2003, Dr. Zanganeh
was worldwide President Director General for Europe, Middle East and Africa
and also became Vice President of Training & Education for Computer Motion
Inc., the world initiator of medical robotics. Dr. Zanganeh received her
degree from Louis Pasteur University in Strasbourg, France and her MBA from
Schiller International University in France. She is fluent in French, German,
Persian & English. Mr. Duggan added, "Maky is a gifted communicator and
negotiator. Her persistence on a given course has few equals. She adds a great
deal to our potential success."
Rainer (Ramses) Erdtmann has been appointed to head the Finance Department
and oversees all financial matters for the company. Mr. Erdtmann began his
career in Europe as an investment banker. He was accepted into the Investment
Banking Program of Commerzbank in Germany after he graduated with distinction
from the Westfaelische Wilhelms Universitaet in Muenster, majoring in
Financing and Banking. He was later recruited by the asset management arm of
Commerzbank and became a portfolio manager for international clients. The
portfolio assets under management exceeded $1Billion Dollars. In 1994 he co-
founded a German-based real estate company, United Properties Immobilien &
Anlagen GmbH, which to date has successfully developed over 30 different
projects and manages a portfolio of over 250 units. His main area of
responsibility has been setting up the organization and overseeing the
financial aspects of its operations. Mr. Erdtmann came to the US in the mid-
nineties to manage the assets for a US equity pool and several European
investors. He became actively involved in some of the holding companies and
served on several of their boards. Building on his European network, he has
since consulted high net-worth individuals and closed-end funds, and actively
advised in the selection of US investments for over $500 Million. Furthermore
he finalized over $120 Million of equity and debt transactions for private
equity partnerships. "I have known Ramses for over 15 years, he has a strong
analytical background, I am glad we could recruit him for this task," said Mr.
Duggan.
Jason Adelman has been appointed as a new Board Member and member of the
Audit Committee for Pharmacyclics. Mr. Adelman is the founder and Senior
Managing Director of Burnham Hill Partners LLC ("BHP"), an investment and
merchant banking firm headquartered in New York City. Mr. Adelman has
extensive financing and merger and acquisition experience, typically involving
complex balance sheets and operational restructurings. Prior to founding BHP,
Mr. Adelman was Managing Director of Investment Banking in the New York office
of H.C. Wainwright & Company, Inc.
Mr. Adelman began his career at Coopers and Lybrand LLP where he worked in
the financial services industry consulting practice, with a particular focus
on the hedge fund industry. Mr. Adelman is also the co-founder and a Managing
Member of Cipher Capital Partners, a private investment entity that has
invested, through its managed accounts, approximately $250 million in capital
since 2006. Mr. Adelman graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a
BA, cum laude, in Economics (1991) and graduated from Cornell Law School
(1994), where he was Editor of the Cornell International Law Journal. Mr.
Adelman also serves on the audit and compensation committees of Trio-Tech
International, an Amex listed company. "Jason was a lead investment banker for
Computer Motion. He was of major assistance on several of our pipe
transactions and played a meaningful role in our successful merger agreement
with Intuitive Surgical. He brings excellent experience and financial acumen
to our Board," said Bob Duggan Chairman and CEO of Pharmacyclics.
About Pharmacyclics
Pharmacyclics(R) is committed to creating and developing novel
pharmaceutical products that treat serious unmet medical needs in oncology and
autoimmune diseases. Its deep and broad pipeline includes four innovative drug
candidates that are currently under clinical development. The Company is
headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and is listed on NASDAQ under the
symbol PCYC. To learn more about how Pharmacyclics advances science to improve
human healthcare visit us at http://www.pharmacyclics.com.
NOTE: Other than statements of historical fact, the statements made in
this press release about future plans for and the timing of initiation of our
clinical trials, progress of and reports of results from preclinical and
clinical studies, expected effect of our products under development, clinical
development plans and product development and corporate partnering activities
are forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words "project," "believe," "will," "may,"
"continue," "plan," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," variations of such
words, and similar expressions also identify forward-looking statements, but
their absence does not mean that the statement is not forward-looking. The
forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are
subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ
materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could
affect actual results include risks associated with unexpected delays in
clinical trials and preclinical studies and the timing for making related
regulatory filings; the fact that data from preclinical studies and Phase 1 or
Phase 2 clinical trials may not necessarily be indicative of future clinical
trial results; our ability to obtain future financing and fund the product
development of our pipeline; the initiation, timing, design, enrollment and
cost of clinical trials and preclinical studies; our ability to establish
successful partnerships and collaborations with third parties; the regulatory
approval process in the United States and other countries; and our future
capital requirements. For further information about these risks and other
factors that may affect the actual results achieved by Pharmacyclics, please
see the company's reports as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission from time to time, including but not limited to its annual report
on Form 10-K for the period ended June 30, 2008 and its subsequently filed
quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Forward-looking statements contained in this
announcement are made as of this date, and we undertake no obligation to
publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
