Amarin Appoints Jan van Heek Non-Executive Director
DUBLIN and MYSTIC, Conn., Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Amarin Corporation plc (Nasdaq: AMRN), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on improving the treatment of cardiovascular disease, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Jan van Heek to its board of directors as a non-executive director. As part of his board role, Mr. van Heek has been appointed Chairman of the Company's Audit Committee.
Mr. van Heek (age 60) brings significant international business experience to Amarin from a career spanning more than 30 years in the healthcare industry. He is currently a Principal and Partner at BioPoint Group, where he advises biotechnology and other healthcare companies in commercial strategy development, financing and business development.
Prior to establishing BioPoint, Mr. van Heek spent more than 18 years at Genzyme Corporation, most recently as Senior Advisor to the CEO and senior management team. Mr. van Heek joined Genzyme in 1991, where as Executive Vice President, he was largely responsible for establishing and building its worldwide therapeutics, surgical and genetic testing businesses.
Prior to Genzyme, Mr. van Heek held various management positions at Baxter Healthcare Corporation in Europe and the US. He received an M.B.A. from St. Gallen University, Switzerland and an executive degree from Stanford Business School, California.
"Jan van Heek has a wealth of industry experience derived from helping to build one of the world's largest and most successful biotech companies," commented Joseph Zakrzewski, Executive Chairman of Amarin. "We are very pleased he will bring this knowledge to support Amarin as we strive to create a valuable company focused on new products to improve the treatment of cardiovascular diseases."
"Amarin is in an exciting position following its recent fundraising, management changes and the advancement of its lead product AMR101 into phase III trials for treating patients with high triglyceride levels," added Mr. van Heek. "I am looking forward to working with the Company's Board, management team and investors and believe that my experiences in growing other companies will allow me to make a very positive contribution to the future development of this business."
Mr. van Heek is currently a board member of PanGenetics BV in the Netherlands and was a board member of and Chairman of the Audit Committee of ViaCell Corporation, a US public company, from 2002 until it was sold to Perkin Elmer Corporation in 2007. Between 2007 and 2009, he was Chairman of the Board of BioVex Inc. in Woburn, MA and where he also chaired its Audit and Compensation Committees. Mr. van Heek also served on the board of Zelos Therapeutics, Inc. between 2004 and 2008.
About Amarin
Amarin is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with expertise in lipid science focused the treatment of cardiovascular disease. The Company's lead product candidate is AMR101 (ethyl icosapentate), has commenced enrolment of patients in two pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of patients with very high triglyceride levels and for the treatment of patients with high triglycerides with mixed dyslipidemia. Both of these Phase 3 trials were designed under Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreements with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Amarin also has next-generation lipid candidates under evaluation for preclinical development. For more information please visit www.amarincorp.com.
Contacts:
Investor Contact Information:
John F. Thero
Chief Financial Officer
In US: +1 (860) 572 4979
[email protected]
Gitanjali Ogawa
The Trout Group
In U.S. +1 (646) 378-2949
[email protected]
International Media Contact Information:
Mark Swallow or David Dible
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
In UK: +44 (0)207 638 9571
[email protected]
Disclosure Notice
The information contained in this document is as of the date stated above. Amarin assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this document as a result of new information or future events or developments. Forward-looking statements, including statements about making Amarin an increasingly valuable company, involve substantial risks and uncertainties. You can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "will", "anticipate", "estimate", "expect", "project", "forecast", "intend", "plan", "believe" and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance or events. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described or projected herein are the following: the success of Amarin's research and development activities; the speed with which regulatory authorizations, pricing approvals and product launches may be achieved and the success with which developed products may be commercialized.. A further list and description of these risks, uncertainties and other matters can be found in Amarin's resale registration statement on Form F-1/A as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on January 26, 2010.
SOURCE Amarin Corporation plc
RELATED LINKS
http://www.amarincorp.com