Nuron Biotech Announces Appointment of New Management Team Members and Provides an Update on Commercial Vaccine Meningitec

EXTON, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nuron Biotech Inc., a revenue-generating vaccines and specialty biologics company, today announced the election of Dr. Warren D. Cooper, MB, BS, BSc, MPFM to its Board of Directors in addition to the operational roles of interim President and Chief Executive Officer.

Warren is a UK-trained physician with over 30 years of experience in the global pharmaceutical industry. Warren was most recently the CEO of Prism Pharmaceuticals, a venture-backed, specialty pharmaceutical company that he led from inception to the sale of the Company to Baxter International in May 2011. His career in the pharmaceutical industry began with Merck and spanned 12 years, initially as a clinical research physician in the UK, then as head of European and subsequently Worldwide Clinical Research Operations for Merck Research Laboratories across all therapeutic areas. Moving to AstraMerck (now AstraZeneca PLC) in a broad clinical development role, he eventually led that company's cardiovascular business division, a role with full business lifecycle leadership from in-licensing through development, to P&L responsibility for sales and marketing. Warren is a member of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom and serves on the Board of the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia.

Nuron Biotech also announced the appointment of Dr. Daniel Cushing, Ph.D., FCP to Senior Vice President, Research and Development, and the promotion of Kevin Taylor to Chief Business Officer.

Dan will report directly to Warren and is responsible for leading clinical and nonclinical development, medical and regulatory affairs, quality assurance and control, and program management functions. Dan previously worked at Pfizer, Merck, Astra Merck, AstraZeneca and most recently at Prism Pharmaceuticals, where he held senior positions in drug development, medical and regulatory affairs. Dan holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and is a Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology. "Dan has over 20 years of pharmaceutical industry experience with demonstrated commitment to scientific and regulatory excellence" said Warren. "Over his career, Dan has led the successful development, registration and launch of multiple products that still enjoy success in the market. Dan and I have worked closely together in several successful ventures including AstraMerck and Prism Pharmaceuticals and I am confident in his ability to drive prudent decisions that will shape, support and advance Nuron's pipeline and commercial business."

Kevin will continue to report directly to Warren. "Kevin brings over 20 years of experience in corporate and business development in the global pharmaceutical industry supporting both R&D and commercial operations," said Warren. He has experience in out-licensing, in-licensing, restructuring, strategic partnerships, mergers and acquisitions. "Kevin will continue to strengthen the critical business relationships currently in place at Nuron, and is focused on finding and fostering new partnering relationships that are strategically aligned to Nuron's business." Prior to joining Nuron, Kevin was Vice President of Business Development at Cangene Corporation, before which he held a similar role at Adolor Corporation. At Adolor, he led collaborations and partnering initiatives with multinational pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline and Eli Lilly culminating in the acquisition of Adolor by Cubist Pharmaceuticals.

Nuron Biotech also provided an update on Meningitec™, the Company's first commercial product, which is a vaccine for the prevention of invasive disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C. "Since acquiring Meningitec from Pfizer in December 2012, Nuron has successfully transferred ownership and marketing responsibility from Pfizer and initiated manufacturing and commercial operations in several European countries," noted Warren. "Through our transitional services agreement (TSA) with Pfizer, we are working to ensure a seamless transition in which patients and customers continue receiving consistent levels of customer service and product availability. From our European headquarters in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, under the leadership of General Manager Hans Fritz, Nuron has rapidly achieved the necessary manufacturer, wholesaler and distributor approvals required to fulfill the obligations of product ownership. Governmental Marketing Authorizations have begun to transition from Pfizer to Nuron and this activity will be completed within the coming months for most countries."

About Meningitec™

Meningitec™ (meningococcal serogroup C conjugate vaccine) is a preservative-free conjugate vaccine, which is delivered in ready-to-use pre-filled syringes for intramuscular injection for the prevention of invasive disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C in infants, adolescents and adults. Meningococcal serogroup C, in particular, is a major cause of endemic disease in Europe and the Americas where numerous outbreaks have occurred in both schools and communities. Over 50 million doses of Meningitec have been distributed since launch, and it is commercially available in 18 countries, including France, Germany, Greece, Spain, Brazil and New Zealand.

Throughout the early 1990s, the incidence of serogroup C infection rose dramatically in the United Kingdom, from 2.3 per 100,000 in 1993/94 to 4.6 per 100,000 in 1996/97 leading authorities to implement measures to bring a vaccine against the disease to the population. Meningitec, along with other meningococcal serogroup C conjugate vaccines, pioneered a 93 percent reduction in annual cases between 1998/99 and 2003/04.1

About Nuron Biotech

Nuron Biotech markets and develops vaccines and specialty biologics for the prevention and treatment of infectious and neurodegenerative diseases. We are located in Exton, Pennsylvania, USA with commercial operations headquartered in Schaffhausen, Switzerland from where we currently market Meningitec™ (meningococcal serogroup C conjugate vaccine) on a worldwide basis. Our lead development candidates are RELONSIV™ (interferon beta-1b), currently in Phase III development for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), and NU300, a Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate vaccine (formerly marketed by Wyeth as HibTITER®).

References
1Gray, et al. J Med Microbiol. (2006) 55, 887-896.

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