Oslo, Norway, 17 September 2007
Clavis Pharma ASA is pleased to announce the following changes in its senior management.
Mr. Geir Christian Melen has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of Clavis Pharma. Mr. Melen will take up his new responsibilities as soon as he is relieved of his current duties, at the latest by the end of Q1 2008.
Furthermore, the Board of Clavis Pharma has unanimously proposed that Mr. Tom Pike, the current CEO, be nominated to the position of Executive Chairman of the Board upon Mr. Melen taking up his new position. It was further proposed that Mr. Carl Christian Gilhuus-Moe, the current Chairman of the Board will revert to the position as regular Board member. Shareholders have requested the Election Committee to consider the proposal and an extraordinary general meeting will be called as soon as a date has been established for when the new CEO will assume his position.
Mr. Melen brings to Clavis more than 10 years of senior management and executive experience in the pharmaceutical sector. Mr. Melen currently holds the position as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Algeta ASA, a Norwegian therapeutics company focusing on the development of products for treatment of cancer. Prior to this, Mr. Melen served as the CFO of PhotoCure ASA, a Norwegian company that develops and sells pharmaceuticals and medical devices, targeting key dermatology and oncology markets. Both Algeta and PhotoCure are listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Prior to joining PhotoCure, Mr. Melen held management positions within Saga Petroleum ASA and has also served as business consultant within the Deloitte audit group of companies. Mr. Melen obtained an MSc in business from the Norwegian School of Business and Administration.
"Mr. Pike's decision to leave the CEO position of Clavis are in line with the intentions set when he entered into the position
four years ago" says Carl Christian Gilhuus -Moe. "I am pleased that Mr. Pike will continue to make his expertise and a considerable
part of his working capacity available to Clavis.
I am furthermore very happy to welcome Geir Christian Melen as our new CEO. We are pleased to welcome one of the few executives
with more than 10 years of experience at top level in the biopharmaceutical industry. At the same time I would like to thank
Tom Pike for managing the company trough a successful IPO and effectively building up, guiding and diligently expanding Clavis
clinical programme with three drug candidates", says Mr. Gilhuus-Moe. Geir Christian Melen commented: "I look forward to take
on the position as CEO of Clavis Pharma as the company is pursuing a broad development program for its technology. Clavis
Pharma's two products in clinical development are addressing cancer patients with significant unmet medical need, and both
products therefore have a significant potential. Especially I look forward to continue to further develop Clavis Pharma together
with its experienced staff."
"I would like to thank the shareholders, the Board and the truly extraordinary Clavis team for their support and cooperation during my period as CEO. I feel privileged to be invited to continue contributing to Clavis in a new capacity and very much look forward to work with Geir Christian Melen" says Tom Pike.
For further information, please contact:
Tom Pike, CEO (tom.pike@clavispharma.com), Phone: +47 24 11 09 50
Geir Christian Melen, Phone +47 913 02 965
About Clavis Pharma
Clavis Pharma ASA is a public oncology focused pharmaceutical company leveraging its proprietary Lipid Vector Technology (LVT) platform to create New Chemical Entities (NCEs) by significantly improving approved drugs. The improvement is achieved by chemically binding specific unsaturated lipids to existing, and well understood, approved pharmaceuticals. Data generated suggests the resulting patentable NCEs offer improved efficacy and reduced side effects through enhanced pharmacokinetic properties, greater tissue penetration and, in many cases, additional modes of action.
Clavis Pharma intends to develop its drug candidates until significant value has been created and proof of principle in man has been shown. For further clinical development and commercialisation of the products, Clavis Pharma will enter strategic partnerships with established pharmaceutical or biotech companies. The company's product portfolio includes three new cancer drugs, of which the first ELACYTTM, is in clinical phase II, the second, CP-4126, is in clinical phase I, and the third is in the pre-clinical phase. Results indicate that ELACYTTM has a promising potential for several cancer indications within solid tumours and leukaemia.
Clavis Pharma ASA is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker: CLAVIS). Additional information on Clavis Pharma can be found at: www.clavispharma.co m