BioMarin Hires Pharmaceutical Industry Leaders in Marketing and Accounting to Fill Strategic Roles Supporting Company's Growth Plans

Humaira Serajuddin Named to Newly Created Role of Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer

Erin Burkhart, Named Group Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., May 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (Nasdaq: BMRN) today announced that the Company hired two pharmaceutical industry leaders in their respective areas of expertise.  Humaira Serajuddin was named Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer and Erin Burkhart was named Group Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer, filling two key strategic roles supporting BioMarin's growth goals. 

"We are thrilled to welcome Humaira and Erin to BioMarin during a time of financial, commercial and regulatory momentum in 2022 and beyond.  In their respective strategic roles, they will be supporting product launches and scaling the organization for our anticipated transition to sustainable profitability and earnings growth," said Jean-Jacques Bienaimé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at BioMarin.  "In addition to the extensive global experience they bring, they are also committed to supporting our work to transform the lives of patients through genetic discoveries."

Humaira Serajuddin Named to Newly Created Role of Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer

Ms. Serajuddin brings a significant depth and breadth of commercial experience, having held both operational and strategic roles in positions across multiple functions, as well as international experience across multiple specialty areas.  She also has an exceptional track record in leading specialty product launches within larger and more competitive markets.  In this newly created role, Ms. Serajuddin is charged with evolving BioMarin's global product strategy and lifecycle management to prepare BioMarin for expected transformational growth as the Company moves into more competitive and larger markets.  Ms. Serajuddin will be working closely with cross-functional teams to set strategy and execute on corporate goals. 

Ms. Serajuddin brings more than 20 years of broad commercial experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including holding cross-functional roles in areas such as Corporate Strategy and R&D. Most recently, she spent over a decade at GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) in leadership positions of increasing responsibility at both global and country levels.She recently led a highly successful launch of a blockbuster therapy at GSK.  During her tenure, she also led Audit & Assurance for the Americas and Global R&D, overseeing key enterprise risks, and she was the Head of Business Strategy & Planning for the Office of the Chairman of Global R&D & Vaccines, driving business improvement and transformation initiatives.  Prior to GSK, Humaira worked at Novartis AG in sales and marketing roles after spending the first part of her career in clinical research. She holds a BA in Biology from Barnard College and an MBA in Marketing and Finance from New York University.

"Humaira's arrival speaks volumes to the promise of the BioMarin pipeline to deliver breakthrough therapies to larger patient populations, as well as the strength of the Company's base business.  Her global marketing experience at leading pharmaceutical companies will be integral to BioMarin ramping up our current product launch and preparing for future launches," said Jeff Ajer, Executive Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer at BioMarin.  "I am looking forward to working closely with Humaira during this time of transformation at BioMarin.

"I am thrilled to join BioMarin at this exciting time as the Commercial organization prepares to deliver on the Company's promising pipeline of potentially breakthrough medicines.  I am deeply moved by the Company's purpose to transform lives through its scientific expertise in genetics. I am also drawn to the collegial and caring culture," said Humaira Serajuddin, Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer at BioMarin.  "With its roots in rare disease, few, if any companies, are as well positioned as BioMarin to make a meaningful impact on more people with genetic diseases."

Erin Burkhart Named Group Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer

Ms. Burkhart is a highly experienced accounting and finance executive with deep technical accounting skills, global corporate finance experience, biopharma business acumen and leadership capabilities.  She brings robust accounting experience across a number of specialized areas, large-scale business operating model experience, and a successful track record of leading transformational business initiatives.  In this role, Ms. Burkhart will assume principal accounting officer responsibilities, including setting BioMarin's global accounting vision and strategy, team leadership, global controllership and accounting operations and systems, and maintaining accounting policies and financial internal controls.  Ms. Burkhart will be a key member of the management team leading the financial aspects of BioMarin's anticipated transformational growth. 

With more than 20 years of accounting and finance experience, Ms. Burkhart most recently held accounting roles of increasing responsibility at Eli Lilly & Co., which include leading accounting operations second to the Chief Accounting Officer, leading U.S. gross-to-net revenue reporting, technical accounting and corporate audit services.  Previously, Ms. Burkhart was the Financial Reporting Director for Stonegate Mortgage Corp and the Technical Accounting Director at Anthem, Inc., and she started her career in public accounting with Arthur Andersen & Deloitte.  Ms. Burkhart is a CPA and holds a BS in Accounting from Butler University.

"It is a pleasure to welcome Erin to BioMarin, where she will be integral to supporting our next phase of growth and leading our global accounting function through BioMarin's evolution to sustainable profitability," said Brian R. Mueller, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer.  "Erin's depth and breadth of experience in accounting and biopharma industry experience will be an essential part of the financial foundations that support our business aspirations of continued product approvals and innovative pipeline growth, while at the same time generating sustainably increasing revenue, profits and operating cash flows with an eye toward continued growth further into this decade."

"I am delighted to be a part of an organization that develops therapies that make a meaningful difference in the lives of people with genetic diseases.  The controllership function is a strategic partner to our critical research and development, technical, and commercial operations, particularly as the Company anticipates transitioning to sustainable GAAP profitability," said Erin Burkhart, Group Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer.  "I am looking forward to bringing my experience to BioMarin and being a part of the vital work that BioMarin is doing to advance the standard of care for rare disease patients."

About BioMarin

BioMarin is a global biotechnology company that develops and commercializes innovative therapies for people with serious and life-threatening rare diseases and medical conditions. The Company selects product candidates for diseases and conditions that represent a significant unmet medical need, have well-understood biology and provide an opportunity to be first-to-market or offer a significant benefit over existing products. The Company's portfolio consists of seven commercial products and multiple clinical and preclinical product candidates for the treatment of various diseases. For additional information, please visit www.biomarin.com.

Forward-Looking Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements about the business prospects of BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BioMarin), including, without limitation, statements about: the hiring of Humaira Serajuddin and Erin Burkhart and their anticipated contributions to the Company's financial, commercial and regulatory momentum in 2022 and beyond, scaling the organization for sustainable profitability and earnings growth, the promise of the BioMarin pipeline to deliver breakthrough therapies to larger patient populations, the Company's evolution to sustainable profitability, the Company's expectations for transformational growth, BioMarin's position to make a meaningful impact on more people with genetic diseases than other companies, and the Company's business aspirations of continued product approvals and innovative pipeline growth, while at the same time generating sustainably increasing revenue, profits and operating cash flows with an eye toward continued growth further into this decade. 

These forward-looking statements are predictions and involve risks and uncertainties such that actual results may differ materially from these statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among others: Ms. Serajuddin and Ms. Burkhart's continuing employment as anticipated, and those factors detailed in BioMarin's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including, without limitation, the factors contained under the caption "Risk Factors" in BioMarin's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 as such factors may be updated by any subsequent reports. Stockholders are urged not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. BioMarin is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

BioMarin® is a registered trademark of BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.

Contacts:

Investors
Traci McCarty
BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.
(415) 455-7558

Media
Debra Charlesworth
BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.
(415) 455-7451

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SOURCE BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.