PHARMAGENESIS,
INC. ADDS TWO LEADING SCIENTISTS TO MANAGEMENT TEAM
Druz,
Guinot To Have Key Roles in California-Based Pharmaceutical Company
PALO ALTO, Calif. – Feb. 2, 2001 – Pharmagenesis, Inc. has
elevated Nicolas Druz to chairman and CEO.
Francois Guinot, board member and managing director of BioMérieux-Pierre
Fabre, the leading French private pharmaceutical and cosmetics company, has been
named president. As
president, Guinot will supervise scientific and business development progress
for Pharmagenesis, including licensing strategy and negotiation, as well as
handling business development for the company’s line of pharmaceuticals.
In addition to his roles at Pharmagenesis and BioMérieux Pierre Fabre,
Guinot is director at Transgene, a French biopharmaceutical company dedicated to
the discovery and development of gene delivery technologies and gene therapy.
Guinot also served as CEO of Rhône Poulenc Santé and chairman and CEO
of Rhône Poulenc Chimie. “Guinot’s
background in drug development and international business ventures complements
the experience of our management team,” said Druz. “His operations background and extensive distribution
contacts will be an enormous asset as we plan the introduction of our new
pharmaceuticals to markets in North America, Europe and Asia.” Druz oversees product development, marketing and operations for the product-driven biotechnology group. He has been with the company for five years, representing the interests of the Wang family, Pharmagenesis’ reference shareholder. Druz also serves as chairman and CEO of Orchid, a Luxembourg-based
financial holding company. In addition to his work with Pharmagenesis, Druz is
vice chairman of Harmonie SA, director of Clinique de Paris, managing director
of Auriga, vice chairman of Tianjin Hualong Pharmaceutical and a board member of
Phytohealth. He is also president and CEO of Europe Journal,
president and CEO of Euro Pacific Communication and a board member of Société
des Papiers de Presse. Pharmagenesis, Inc.
Pharmagenesis, Inc.
develops ethical pharmaceuticals from purified extracts of plants that have
been employed in traditional Chinese medicine for more than 4,000 years.
The efficacy will be validated by clinical trials conforming to standards
of appropriate government regulatory agencies.
The company is currently focused on developing anticancer therapies,
treatments for cancer therapy-related bone-marrow suppression and for the
management of transplant rejection. These
pharmaceuticals will be commercialized initially in the high-growth markets of
China and Taiwan. Pharmagenesis'
corporate headquarters, where the company also has an R & D facility
employing cutting-edge Western medical research techniques, is based in Palo
Alto, Calif. A privately-held
company, Pharmagenesis also has operations in Beijing and Taipei.
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