Serono Announces New Appointments to its Executive Management Board
May 09 2006 - 2:03AM
PR Newswire (US)
GENEVA, Switzerland, May 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Serono
(virt-x:SEO and NYSE: SRA) announced today the appointment of Mr.
Jacques Theurillat to the new role of Senior Executive Vice
President, Strategic Corporate Development, in addition to his role
as Deputy CEO. In this role, Mr. Theurillat will be responsible for
developing the Company's global strategy and pursuing our
acquisition and in-licensing initiatives. Strategic Corporate
Development will consist of two groups: - A Corporate Marketing
group, responsible for global marketing strategy. This group will
be headed by Mr. Jurg Ambuhl, as Senior Executive Vice President,
Corporate Marketing. Mr. Ambuhl was previously Regional Vice
President Germany. - A Corporate Business Development group,
responsible for delivering the Company's acquisition and licensing
strategy. This group will now include Mr. Giampiero De Luca,
Serono's Chief Intellectual Property Counsel, as Senior Executive
Vice President, Licensing and Intellectual Property. Serono also
announced that its Europe and International business operations
will be reorganized into two regions, and that both will be
represented at the Executive Management Board: - Mr. Roberto
Gradnik, will take up the position of Senior Executive Vice
President, Europe. Mr. Gradnik was previously Regional Vice
President Hellas, Italy and Turkey. - Mr. Anders Harfstrand, will
take up the position of Senior Executive Vice President,
International. Mr. Harfstrand was previously Senior Vice President,
Marketing and Sales. "I am delighted to announce these senior
executive appointments", said Ernesto Bertarelli, Chief Executive
Officer. "This new structure will further support our strategy of
pursuing acquisitions and in-licensing opportunities while at the
same continuing to deliver strong business performance". Mr. Leon
Bushara, Senior Executive Vice President Corporate and Business
Development has accepted the role of CEO in a UK-based
biotechnology company. Over the last thirteen years, Mr. Bushara
has been instrumental in establishing Serono's business development
strategy and capabilities, and in bringing new products to Serono
through external collaborations. Serono thanks him warmly for his
contribution and wishes him well in his new role. Management
profiles: Jurg Ambuhl joined Serono in 2003, as Regional Vice
President Germany. He previously held a number of international
posts with a number of companies, including CEO of metaGen
Pharmaceuticals Germany and various senior positions, mainly in
sales and marketing, at BASF Pharma, MSD Sharp and Dohme, Merck and
Co.Inc, McKinsey & Company and Eli Lilly. He has a Ph.D and
Diploma in Chemistry from ETH Federal Institute of Technology,
Switzerland. Giampiero De Luca joined Serono in 1988, working in
positions of increasing responsibility related to intellectual
property and product development. Prior to joining Serono, Mr. De
Luca worked as a patent examiner at the European Patent Office,
where he focused on patents related to genetic engineering. Mr. De
Luca holds a doctoral degree in industrial chemistry from the
University of Milan and a diploma from the Institut Pasteur in
general microbiology. He is a chartered European patent attorney,
chartered Italian patent attorney, and chartered attorney before
the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market. Roberto
Gradnik joined Serono in 1999, initially as General Manager Italy.
His latest appointment was as Regional Vice President, Hellas,
Italy and Turkey. Previously he was with Knoll Pharmaceuticals,
most latterly as Director-General Italy. He is the President of the
Cesare Serono Foundation and the President of Assobiotec, the
Italian National Association for the Development of Biotechnology.
He is a qualified M.D. and a specialist in Cardiology and Internal
Medicine. Anders Harfstrand joined Serono in 2005 as Senior Vice
President, Marketing and Sales. He previously held a number of
senior and international posts in Pfizer and Pharmacia, most
latterly in Japan, where he was Executive Vice President and member
of the Board of Pfizer, Japan. He is a qualified M.D. and a Doctor
of Medical Science from the Karolinska Institute, Sweden. Jacques
Theurillat has been Serono's Deputy Chief Executive Officer and
President Marketing & Sales Europe and International since May
2002 and has been a Serono S.A. director since May 2000. He held a
number of roles, including Chief Financial Officer (from 1996 until
October 2002), and Managing Director of Serono operations in Italy.
He began his career with Serono in 1987. Mr. Theurillat has law
degrees from Madrid University and Geneva University and holds a
Swiss Federal Diploma (Tax Expert). He also received an MBA from
the Madrid School of Finance. Some of the statements in this press
release are forward looking. Such statements are inherently subject
to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that
may cause actual results, performance or achievements of Serono
S.A. and affiliates to be materially different from those expected
or anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements are based on Serono's current expectations and
assumptions, which may be affected by a number of factors,
including those discussed in this press release and more fully
described in Serono's Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February 28, 2006. These
factors include any failure or delay in Serono's ability to develop
new products, any failure to receive anticipated regulatory
approvals, any problems in commercializing current products as a
result of competition or other factors, our ability to obtain
reimbursement coverage for our products, the outcome of government
investigations and litigation and government regulations limiting
our ability to sell our products. Serono has no responsibility to
update the forward-looking statements contained in this press
release to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date
of this press release. About Serono Serono is a global
biotechnology leader. The Company has eight biotechnology products,
Rebif(R), Gonal-f(R), Luveris(R), Ovidrel(R )/Ovitrelle(R),
Serostim(R), Saizen(R), Zorbtive(TM) and Raptiva(R). In addition to
being the world leader in reproductive health, Serono has strong
market positions in neurology, metabolism and growth and has
recently entered the psoriasis area. The Company's research
programs are focused on growing these businesses and on
establishing new therapeutic areas, including oncology and
autoimmune diseases. Currently, there are more than 25 on-going
development projects. In 2005, Serono, whose products are sold in
over 90 countries, achieved worldwide revenues of US$2,586.4
million. Reported net loss in 2005 was US$106.1 million, reflecting
a charge of US$725 million taken relating to the settlement of the
US Attorney's Office investigation of Serostim. Excluding this
charge as well as other non-recurring items, adjusted net income
grew 28.4% to US$565.3 million in 2005. Bearer shares of Serono
S.A., the holding company, are traded on the virt-x (SEO) and its
American Depositary Shares are traded on the New York Stock
Exchange (SRA). Background material For free B-roll, video and
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media. DATASOURCE: Serono International S.A. CONTACT: For more
information, please contact: Corporate Media Relations: Tel:
+41-22-739-36-00, Fax: +41-22-739-30-85, http://www.serono.com/.
Media Relations, USA: Tel: +1-781-681-2340, Fax: +1-781-681-2935,
http://www.seronousa.com/. Corporate Investor Relations: Tel:
+41-22-739-36-01, Fax: +41-22-739-30-22, Reuters: SEO.VX / SRA.N,
Bloomberg: SEO VX / SRA US. Investor Relations, USA: Tel:
+1-781-681-2552, Fax: +1-781-681-2912
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