Sosei Group Corporation Announces Changes in Executive Management team - Shinichi Tamura Appointed as Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer

TOKYO and LONDON, December 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Tamura is the founder and former CEO and brings more than 40 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry 

Sosei Group Corporation ("the Company"; TSE: 4565), today announced that its Board of Directors, at a meeting held on 11 December 2018, approved a change in its President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) as stated below.

1. Reason for the Change 

It was decided by mutual consent that Mr. Peter Bains will step down as President & CEO of the Company on 31 December 2018. Mr. Bains will also resign as a Director of the Company simultaneously.

Mr. Shinichi Tamura, Executive Chairman, founder and former CEO of Sosei, has been appointed as Chairman, President & CEO effective as of 1 January 2019. The re-appointment of Mr. Tamura as CEO provides a seamless transition that enables the Company to continue pursuing its strategic plan, aiming to realize its vision to be a leading Japan-based biotech champion delivering innovative medicines for patients worldwide. We will continue to invest in R&D and promote our leading scientific platform, portfolio and business globally. Our strategic decisions will place our Japanese and global investors top-of-mind, to maximize shareholder value.

2. Content of the Change 

   
    New position                        Name            Previous position
    Chairman of the Board,              Shinichi Tamura Chairman of the Board,
    Representative Executive Officer,                   Representative Executive
    Chairman, President and Chief                       Officer and Executive
    Executive Officer                                   Chairman
                                        Peter Bains     Director, Representative
                                                        Executive Officer,
                                                        President and Chief
                                                        Executive Officer

3. Effective date of the Change 

31 December 2018

Mr. Tamura said: "On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Peter for all his hard work and enthusiasm in leading the company over the past couple of years and wish him well in his future endeavours. As a Board member, Peter was instrumental in the acquisition of Heptares Therapeutics in February 2015, which has transformed the company and its prospects. While CEO, he has played a key role in the integration of Heptares and the further development of the overall Sosei Heptares business. We are well positioned to execute on our strategy to pursue profitability and advance our partnered and in-house pipelines and I look forward to announcing further progress in the future."

Curriculum Vitae of new Representative Executive Officer, Chairman, President and CEO 

   
    Apr. 1978   Joined Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (now Astellas Pharma Inc.)

    Feb. 1987   Moved to Genentech Limited
    Jul. 1989   Representative Director & President, Genentech Limited
    Jun. 1990   Representative Director & CEO, Sosei Group Corporation
    Jun. 2005   Board Director, Representative Executive Officer, President,
                CEO of Sosei Group Corporation
    Mar. 2012   Managing Director, Sosei R&D Limited
    Jun. 2016   Chairman of the Board, Representative Executive Officer and
                Executive Chairman of Sosei Group Corporation (to the present)

About Sosei Heptares 

We are an international biopharmaceutical group focused on the design and development of new medicines originating from its proprietary GPCR-targeted StaR® technology and structure-based drug design platform capabilities. The Company is advancing a broad and deep pipeline of partnered and wholly owned product candidates in multiple therapeutic areas, including CNS, immuno-oncology, gastroenterology, inflammation and other rare/specialty indications. Its leading clinical programs include partnered candidates aimed at the symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer's disease (with Allergan) and next generation immuno-oncology approaches to treat cancer (with AstraZeneca). Our additional partners and collaborators include Novartis, Pfizer, Daiichi-Sankyo, PeptiDream, Kymab and MorphoSys. The Company is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan with R&D facilities in Cambridge, UK and Zurich, Switzerland.

"Sosei Heptares" is the corporate brand of Sosei Group Corporation, which is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (ticker: 4565). For more information, please visit http://www.soseiheptares.com.

Forward-looking statements 

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements about the discovery, development and commercialization of products. Various risks may cause Sosei Group Corporation's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including: adverse results in clinical development programs; failure to obtain patent protection for inventions; commercial limitations imposed by patents owned or controlled by third parties; dependence upon strategic alliance partners to develop and commercialize products and services; difficulties or delays in obtaining regulatory approvals to market products and services resulting from development efforts; the requirement for substantial funding to conduct research and development and to expand commercialization activities; and product initiatives by competitors. As a result of these factors, prospective investors are cautioned not to rely on any forward-looking statements. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Sosei Heptares