Achillion Pharmaceuticals names ex-Vertex CCO to it's board of directors...

Posted on 6-11-12 on MarketWatch.com. True HCV Drug Development nerds will recognize Kurt Grave's name from his tenure as Executive Vice President, Head of Corporate and Strategic Development and Chief Commercial Officer at Vertex Pharmaceuticals from 2007 to 2009 - no easy task to take a small, primarily R&D company and ready it for commercialization. His tenure abruptly ended at Vertex as he and then-CEO Matthew Emmens butted heads. Some of you might argue with me, but it seems like Vertex could use Grave's leadership skills given the company's current level of dysfunction and dissatisfaction with it's current leadership.  Mr. Graves replacing Nicholas Simon on the Achillion board could also be interpreted in multiple ways, following the leadership shakeup when CMO Elizabeth Olek resigned last week.

PRESS RELEASE
June 11, 2012, 4:03 p.m. EDT
Achillion Appoints Kurt Graves to Its Board of Directors

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Jun 11, 2012 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ACHN +0.65% today announced the appointment of Kurt Graves to its board of directors as an independent director. Mr. Graves brings more than two decades of experience in building, leading and advising top-performing pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Mr. Graves was appointed as a Class I director, with a term expiring in 2013, and will replace Nicholas Simon of Clarus Ventures LLC.

"We are very pleased to have Kurt join the Board of Directors, as his extensive strategic knowledge of hepatitis C and successful career in transforming pharmaceutical companies complements the expertise of the entire Achillion Board," commented David I. Scheer, Chairman of the Board of Achillion. "From his tenures at Merck, Novartis and Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Kurt brings a depth of industry expertise and a global business view that will serve us well as we move toward achieving a number of aggressive milestones including the initiation of all-oral, interferon-free clinical trials evaluating regimens containing our pan-genotypic protease inhibitor, ACH-1625, and NS5A inhibitor, ACH-3102, for the treatment of HCV."

Michael Kishbauch, President and Chief Executive Officer of Achillion further commented, "On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would also like to thank Nick Simon for his insight and guidance over the past three and a half years as Achillion matured into a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, with a portfolio of proprietary hepatitis C compounds discovered by Achillion and advanced into clinical development."

Mr. Graves currently serves as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Intarcia Therapeutics. He is also Chairman of the Board of Radius, since April 2011, and a Director of Pulmatrix and Springleaf Therapeutics, since May 2010. In addition to his global experience in large pharmaceutical companies, Mr. Graves has played key leadership roles in building two highly successful early stage companies; at Astra Merck Pharmaceuticals and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Graves was EVP, Head of Corporate and Strategic Development and Chief Commercial Officer at Vertex Pharmaceuticals from 2007 through 2009. Prior to his tenure at Vertex, he spent nearly ten years at Novartis Pharmaceuticals in senior leadership positions of increasing responsibility, and was most recently Global Head of the General Medicines Business Unit & Chief Marketing Officer for the Pharmaceuticals division. Prior to Novartis, Mr. Graves held commercial and general management positions of increasing responsibility at Merck and Astra Merck Pharmaceuticals where he led the GI Business Unit, with responsibility for Prilosec and Nexium.

Mr. Graves earned his B.S. in Biology from Hillsdale College and has attended executive leadership programs at Harvard, Wharton School of Management and University of Michigan.

About HCV

The hepatitis C virus is the most common cause of viral hepatitis, which is an inflammation of the liver. It is currently estimated that more than 170 million people are infected with HCV worldwide including more than 5 million people in the United States, more than twice as widespread as HIV. Three-fourths of the HCV patient population is undiagnosed; it is a silent epidemic and a major global health threat. Chronic hepatitis, if left untreated, can lead to permanent liver damage that can result in the development of liver cancer, liver failure or death. Few therapeutic options currently exist for the treatment of HCV infection. The current standard of care is limited by its specificity for certain types of HCV, significant side-effect profile, and injectable route of administration.

About Achillion Pharmaceuticals

Achillion is an innovative pharmaceutical company dedicated to bringing important new treatments to patients with infectious disease. Achillion's proven discovery and development teams have advanced multiple product candidates with novel mechanisms of action. Achillion is focused on solutions for the most challenging problems in infectious disease including HCV and resistant bacterial infections. For more information on Achillion Pharmaceuticals, please visit www.achillion.com or call 1-203-624-7000.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are subject to risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, including statements with respect to the expected contributions of Mr. Graves to the Achillion Board of Directors and Achillion's expectations with respect to milestone achievement, and, in particular, its plans to initiate all-oral, interferon-free clinical trials evaluating regimens containing ACH-1625 and ACH-3102 for the treatment of HCV. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are risks relating to, among other things Achillion's ability to: replicate in later clinical trials positive results found in earlier stage nonclinical studies and clinical trials of ACH-2684, ACH-1625 and ACH-3102; advance the development of its drug candidates under the timelines it anticipates in current and future clinical trials; obtain necessary regulatory approvals; obtain patent protection for its drug candidates and the freedom to operate under third party intellectual property; establish commercial manufacturing arrangements; identify, enter into and maintain collaboration agreements with appropriate third-parties; compete successfully with other companies that are seeking to develop improved therapies for the treatment of HCV; manage expenses; and raise the substantial additional capital needed to achieve its business objectives. These and other risks are described in the reports filed by Achillion with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011 and its subsequent SEC filings.

In addition, any forward-looking statement in this press release represents Achillion's views only as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. Achillion disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required by applicable law.

This news release was distributed by GlobeNewswire, www.globenewswire.com

SOURCE: Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.



        CONTACT: Company Contact:
        Glenn Schulman
        Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
        Tel. (203) 624-7000
        gschulman@achillion.com
        Investors:
        Mary Kay Fenton
        Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
        Tel. (203) 624-7000
        mfenton@achillion.com
        Media:
        Christin Culotta Miller
        Ogilvy PR
        Tel. (212) 880-5264
        Christin.Miller@Ogilvy.com

FierceBiotech interviews out-going Vertex CEO Matt Emmens and successor Jeffrey Leiden...

An interview with out-going CEO and successor to the throne, Jeffrey Leiden. Emmens appears to be jumping ship at a good time, with a record-breaking 3rd quarter with sales of it's HCV protease inhibitor incivek. Initial 4th quarter sales aren't living up to expectations, however. This may in part be due to the release of promising data hinting at interferon-free treatment for some patients in the next couple of years, reports of higher-than-anticipated anemia, DRESS and Stevens-Johnson syndrome driving providers and patients to use competitor Victrelis or simply taking a chance and waiting for more tolerable therapies. Successor Dr. Leiden faces an uphill battle as Vertex struggles to manage investor, patient and provider expectations as well as the prodigious problem of filling a considerable commercial gap in it's pipeline.

Interview: Vertex CEO concerned about investors' 'hyper-focus' on hep C
December 21, 2011 — 9:37am ET | By Ryan McBride

Matthew Emmens


On the heels of Vertex Pharmaceuticals' ($VRTX) big news last week about changing CEOs next year, FierceBiotech chatted with both current chief executive Matt Emmens (picture, top) and his successor Dr. Jeffrey Leiden. Both Emmens and Leiden are heavyweights in the biopharma industry, with hugely successful drug launches under their belts.

Still, Vertex needs another hit to follow the successful approval and launch of its hepatitis C drug Incivek this year, and it could have one in the experimental cystic fibrosis drug Kalydeco now under FDA review. Much of the company's stock growth of recent years has wilted over the past 6 months on fears that Incivek faces lots of competition in the years ahead from Merck's ($MRK) rival drug and interferon-free treatments against hep C in development, which analysts believe could rapidly eat into Vertex's Incivek business if approved.


Emmens, a 60-year-old biopharma veteran who headed Shire ($SHPGY) prior taking over as CEO of Vertex in 2009, is handing over his chief executive duties to Dr. Leiden on Feb. 1 and will serve as executive chairman until May. Leiden, 56, has served on the board of Vertex since 2009, and he made a name for himself in past leadership roles at Abbott Labs ($ABT), where he oversaw the launch of the blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira.

Here's an edited version of FierceBiotech's conversation with Emmens and Leiden on Tuesday:

FierceBiotech: What has been your biggest mistake as CEO of Vertex?

Emmens: You ask tough questions, you know that [laughing]. I don't see any mistakes. I don't know if I'd do anything different. People are going to second-guess a lot of things. But when you look retrospectively at things, without all the information, that's easy to do. When you're there, the decisions that you have to make at the time have quite a different face on them. I don't think I would have done anything differently knowing what I knew then. Knowing what I know now, yeah, in the drug industry I think I would have gone back and bought Genentech when it was three people.

FierceBiotech: What's your biggest concern about Vertex's business heading into 2012?

Emmens: My biggest concern is the way it's perceived by some in the investment community. I think you have a company here that has the best pipeline that I've ever seen in any company in terms of numbers of projects that are successfully proven in man and in a time frame that's not 15 years out. You see, basically, 8 projects here that could all be on the market by [2017], and you see three or four that could be on the market by [2015]. That's very nice, I think. The hyper-focus on hepatitis C has taken people's focus away from that. And I think on top of that, in hepatitis C, we've got a number of projects that could put us in an all-oral regimen in the time frame of [2014]. That's being overlooked.

FierceBiotech: Do you see yourself being a biopharma CEO again after you leave your executive role at Vertex in May?

Emmens: No. I've been working since I was 11 years old. I retired once from Shire, as you probably know. I was on the board here at Vertex and I saw a unique opportunity to use my skill set at a time that the company needed it. I would not be willing to do that for the long term again. I'll be happy to be on boards and advise and help people who are earlier in their career be successful.

FierceBiotech: According to an online poll, lots of people believe that you are the best CEO in biotech this year. Do you agree with them?

Emmens: They were obviously deluded [laughing]. I thank those who voted and it's a nice honor but I have no idea whether I agree with them or not. I did the best I could, and I try to do the best job I can everywhere I've been. And I came here to help the company along into the commercial realm and be successful, and that's happened.

[FierceBiotech's Q&As with Leiden]

FierceBiotech: What's one meaningful change that you plan to bring to Vertex as CEO?

Leiden: I've been very involved in the strategy that Matt and the team have crafted on the management side and the board side. I'm very supportive of that strategy, and I don't anticipate any major changes to it.

FierceBiotech: Did you have any doubts about whether you should take the CEO job?

Leiden: There's no question that Matt is leaving some big shoes to fill, and, frankly, so did Josh Boger. There have been two fantastic CEOs of this company. So that's always a challenge. On the other hand, I see the opportunities at Vertex looking forward are just fantastic. I've had the good fortune to look at a number of biotech and pharma CEO jobs over the last 5 or 6 years, and this was absolutely a unique opportunity because of the pipeline, the team and the proven record of execution here. The job now is to come here and execute over and over, just like they executed on [Incivek and Kalydeco].

FierceBiotech: As a physician and scientist by training, do you see yourself getting more involved in R&D than Matt has been as CEO?

Leiden: I really see my job as integrating the R&D-scientific-medical function with the commercial function. It's what I did at Abbott and I think it made a difference at Abbott. One of the problems that biopharmas have had is a disconnect between the discovery organization, which first makes the molecules, the development organization, which takes it through human trials to approval, and the commercial organization, which obviously brings [a treatment] to patients and the market. The discovery organization makes drugs that are difficult to develop. The development organization develops them in a way that makes it difficult to sell them. So the real key to the success of a modern-day biotech company is a highly integrated organization.

FierceBiotech: Does Vertex spend enough money on R&D, or too little, to keep growing?

Leiden: I've never seen an R&D organization spend as relatively little money and produce so much. The key metric at Vertex is to look at the productivity per dollars spent, and I would hold that up against any company out there--Pfizer, Merck or Genentech. We're spending an 8th to a 10th of what most of the Big Pharmas are spending and producing more.



Read more: Interview: Vertex CEO concerned about investors' 'hyper-focus' on hep C - FierceBiotech http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/interview-vertex-ceo-concerned-about-investors-hyper-focus-hep-c/2011-12-21#ixzz1hESYZiaF
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