Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS) today announced that its
board of directors (the “board”) has undertaken a series of changes
consistent with its commitment to continuous improvement of best
practices for corporate governance.
Effective April 1, 2022:
- Zsolt Harsanyi, Ph.D., an independent director at Emergent
since 2004, has been appointed as chairman of the board. The board
has decided to eliminate the role of executive chairman in favor of
an independent, non-executive chairman and thus will no longer
require the role of lead independent director. Ronald B. Richard,
currently lead independent director, will continue as an
independent director, and as previously announced, Fuad El-Hibri,
founder and executive chairman, will retire from the company.
- Keith Katkin has been appointed to the board as an independent
director and will assume the Class 1 member role vacated by Mr.
El-Hibri. Mr. Katkin will be presented for election by the
company’s stockholders at its 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders1
to hold office for a term to expire at its 2025 Annual Meeting of
Stockholders. He will serve as a member of the board’s nominating
and corporate governance and strategic operations committees.
- The board has appointed Marvin White to serve as chair of the
audit committee, Jerome M. Hauer, Ph.D., M.H.S. to serve as chair
of the strategic operations committee, and Kathryn C. Zoon, Ph.D.
to serve as chair of the scientific review committee of the
board.
Ronald B. Richard, lead independent director at
Emergent, stated, “We are pleased to welcome Keith Katkin to the
board. His substantial track record of driving growth for
pharmaceutical and life sciences companies will be invaluable to
the company’s mission. We are also delighted to appoint Dr.
Harsanyi as chairman of the board. His leadership, expertise, and
knowledge of Emergent will propel us to the next level of execution
on our strategic priorities under the company’s streamlined
operating structure.”
“It is my great honor to be appointed chairman of
Emergent’s board,” said Dr. Harsanyi. “During my time as a
director, I have seen the immense efforts of my colleagues and the
Emergent management team to ensure that our company is executing on
its mission to protect and enhance life. I am confident that we
will continue our vital mission and proud heritage as the team
advances its strategic priorities to strengthen, grow, and
diversify our portfolio of specialty products and CDMO services
while creating value for our shareholders.”
“I’m excited to be joining Emergent’s board at this
pivotal juncture for the company,” said Mr. Katkin. “Emergent is
well-positioned to capitalize on the recent improvements made
across the organization and has an exciting, robust pipeline that
could help millions of people. I look forward to working with the
board to support the company’s growth strategy and objectives for
the benefit of all stakeholders.”
Mr. El-Hibri has agreed to serve as a consultant to
the company through March 2024.
About Zsolt Harsanyi, Ph.D.Dr.
Zsolt Harsanyi has served as a director of Emergent BioSolutions
since August 2004. Dr. Harsanyi has served as a director of Aptevo
Therapeutics Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, since
August 2016 and as chairman of the board of N-Gene Research
Laboratories, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company,
since March 2011. Prior to that, Dr. Harsanyi served as chief
executive officer and chairman of the board of directors of
Exponential Biotherapies Inc., a private biotechnology company,
from December 2004 to February 2011. Dr. Harsanyi served as a
director of Porton International plc, an Anglo-American
pharmaceutical and vaccine company, and as president of its U.S.
subsidiary from January 1983 to December 2004. The company’s
products included the United Kingdom’s anthrax vaccine, botulinum
toxin A (Dysport), Erwinase, and HyateC, and a recombinant Factor
VIII, which was jointly developed with Genentech and licensed to
Bayer as Kogenate. Dr. Harsanyi co-founded Dynport Vaccine Company
LLC in September 1996. Prior to joining Porton International, Dr.
Harsanyi was vice president of corporate finance at E.F. Hutton,
Inc. Previously, Dr. Harsanyi directed the first assessment of
biotechnology for the U.S. Congress’ Office of Technology
Assessment, served as a consultant to the President’s Commission
for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and
Behavioral Research, and was on the faculties of Microbiology and
Genetics at Cornell University Medical College. Dr. Harsanyi
received a Ph.D. from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and a
B.A. from Amherst College.
About Keith KatkinKeith Katkin
served as the chief executive officer and as a member of the board
of directors of Urovant Sciences Ltd, a public biopharmaceutical
company, from September 2017 until March 2020. Prior to Urovant,
Mr. Katkin served as the president and chief executive officer of
Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical
company, from 2007 to 2016, where he led the growth and ultimate
sale of Avanir to Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for $3.5 billion.
Prior to joining Avanir, Mr. Katkin served as the vice president,
commercial development for Peninsula Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a
privately held biopharmaceutical company, playing a key role in the
concurrent initial public offering and ultimate sale of the company
to Johnson & Johnson. Mr. Katkin currently serves on the boards
of Eledon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (chairman), Rigel Pharmaceuticals,
Inc., and Syndax Pharmaceuticals, each of which is a publicly
traded company, and as an adviser to the board of directors at
Urovant. Mr. Katkin has an M.B.A. from the Anderson School at UCLA
and a B.S. in Business and Accounting from Indiana University. Mr.
Katkin is also a licensed Certified Public Accountant.
About Emergent BioSolutionsAt
Emergent, our mission is to protect and enhance life. For over 20
years, we’ve been at work defending people from things we hope will
never happen—so we are prepared just in case they ever do. We
provide solutions for complex and urgent public health threats
through a portfolio of vaccines and therapeutics that we develop
and manufacture for governments and consumers. We also offer a
range of integrated contract development and manufacturing services
for pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers. To learn more about
how we plan to protect or enhance 1 billion lives by 2030, visit
our website and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
Safe Harbor StatementThis press
release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any
statements, other than statements of historical fact, including
statements regarding advancing our mission and strategic priorities
to strengthen, grow, and diversify our portfolio of specialty
products and CDMO services while creating value for our
shareholders, and any other statements containing the words
“believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,”
“estimates” and similar expressions, are forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our
current intentions, beliefs and expectations regarding future
events. We cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will
be accurate. The reader should realize that if underlying
assumptions prove inaccurate or unknown risks or uncertainties
materialize, actual results could differ materially from our
expectations. Readers are, therefore, cautioned not to place undue
reliance on any forward-looking statement. Any forward-looking
statement speaks only as of the date of this press release, and,
except as required by law, we do not undertake to update any
forward-looking statement to reflect new information, events or
circumstances.
There are a number of important factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
indicated by such forward-looking statements. The reader should
consider this cautionary statement, as well as the risk factors
identified in our periodic reports filed with the SEC, when
evaluating our forward-looking statements.
Investor Contact:Robert G.
BurrowsVice President, Investor
Relations240-631-3280burrowsr@ebsi.com
Media Contact:Matt HartwigSenior
Director, Media Relationsmediarelations@ebsi.com
_____________________1 The date for the 2022 Annual
Meeting of Stockholders has not yet been announced.
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