WALTHAM, Mass., Jan. 04, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAG ) today announced the appointment of Nicholas (Nik) Grund as executive vice president and chief commercial officer of the company. In this newly created role, Mr. Grund will be responsible for AMAG’s integrated commercial strategy and execution across the company’s product portfolio.
In addition to Mr. Grund’s appointment, the company announced additional key commercial leadership changes. Paul Williams has been appointed to lead the company’s maternal health commercial functions, which includes management of the company’s 100-person field force focused on educating obstetricians throughout the country about Makena ® (hydroxyprogesterone caproate injection) and umbilical stem cell storage services. Todd Van Horn has been named general manager, Cord Blood Registry ® (CBR ® ) and senior vice president of the company’s consumer sales and marketing teams. Todd and his team will focus on driving growth for the CBR business while leveraging the consumer marketing and sales capabilities across AMAG’s other products. Ken Wilson, former head of Lumara Health, and Geoffrey Crouse, former head of CBR, will be transitioning out of the company.
“Today’s leadership appointments are designed to support AMAG’s continued evolution as a leading therapeutics company and to drive both accelerated organic growth and continued portfolio expansion through acquisitions. The consumer is playing an ever greater role today in making healthcare decisions, and this new commercial operations structure will position AMAG well to leverage the new consumer marketing and sales capabilities that we acquired through CBR,” said William Heiden, chief executive officer of AMAG. “Nik’s strong leadership skills and exceptional commercial record, combined with the depth of experience of Paul and Todd, will enable enhanced integration and execution across our brands, which will ultimately improve our ability to serve customers, patients and their families even more effectively.”
“I would also like to thank Geoff and Ken for their contributions to our organization,” Mr. Heiden added.
“Joining AMAG is a tremendous opportunity and I am excited to be taking on this new role,” said Mr. Grund. “I look forward to working with all of my new colleagues and contributing to the company’s mission of providing safe and effective therapeutics and medical innovations to patients and healthcare professionals.”
Mr. Grund brings to AMAG more than 20 years of commercial leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including several global senior-level executive roles in sales and marketing. He joins AMAG from Genzyme Corporation, a Sanofi Company, where he spent the past 13 years in business leadership roles, most recently as the leader of the company’s rare disease and multiple sclerosis franchises in Asia Pacific and Canada. Mr. Grund joined Genzyme from Bayer Diagnostics where he progressed through a number of senior finance roles in the Critical Care Business Unit from 1995 to 2002. Mr. Grund holds a bachelor of science degree in business administration from the University of Massachusetts and a master of business administration from Northeastern University.
Mr. Williams joined AMAG with more than 25 years of sales and marketing experience as part of the company’s acquisition of Lumara Health in November 2014. As vice president of the women’s healthcare division and commercial operations of Lumara Health, he led the build-out and re-launch of the company’s product portfolio in anti-infectives and hormone replacement therapy. Prior to joining Lumara Health, Mr. Williams served as senior vice president and general manager of a division of Actavis, Inc. Prior to Actavis, Mr. Williams held positions of increasing sales and marketing responsibility at Medimmune LLC, a member of the AstraZeneca Group, and Centocor, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson Company. Mr. Williams holds a bachelor of science degree in finance from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Mr. Van Horn joined AMAG as part of the company’s recent acquisition of CBR. He most recently served as vice president at CBR overseeing its business intelligence team and all business development activities, strategic partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, and collaborations. Prior to joining CBR, he served as a principal at Linden Capital Partners, a healthcare and life sciences-focused private equity firm where he served as a board director or observer on several portfolio companies. Prior to Linden, Mr. Van Horn was a principal and founding member of Healthcare Investment Partners, a growth equity healthcare fund, and began his career in the healthcare investment banking group at Credit Suisse First Boston. Mr. Van Horn holds a bachelor of science degree in molecular, cell and developmental biology from the University of California and a master of business administration from the Kellogg School of Management.
Inducement Equity Awards In connection with Mr. Grund's entering into employment with AMAG, the Board of Directors of AMAG approved awards to Mr. Grund of (i) an option to purchase 45,000 shares of common stock and (ii) 32,000 restricted stock units. The option will have an exercise price equal to the closing price of AMAG's common stock on the grant date and will be exercisable in four equal annual installments beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date. The option will have a ten-year term and be subject to the terms and conditions of the stock option agreement pursuant to which the option will be granted. The restricted stock units will vest in three equal annual installments beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date and will be subject to the restricted stock unit agreement pursuant to which the restricted stock units will be granted. These equity awards will be granted without stockholder approval as inducements material to Mr. Grund entering into employment with AMAG in accordance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).
About AMAG AMAG Pharmaceuticals uses its business and clinical expertise to develop and commercialize products that provide clear benefits and improve people's lives. Based in Waltham, Massachusetts, AMAG has a diverse portfolio of products in the areas of maternal health, anemia management and cancer supportive care. AMAG continues to work to expand the impact of these and future products for patients by delivering on its growth strategy, which includes organic growth, as well as the pursuit of products and companies that align with AMAG's existing therapeutic areas or those that could benefit from its proven core competencies. For additional company information, please visit www.amagpharma.com .
Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws. Any statements contained herein which do not describe historical facts, including but not limited to statements regarding Mr. Grund’s start of employment with the company; the contributions and responsibilities of Mr. Grund, Mr. Williams and Mr. Van Horn; expectations of the resulting impact of the company’s recent leadership changes on its growth and marketing and sales capabilities, on AMAG’s evolution as a leading therapeutics company and on integration and execution efforts; AMAG's ability to serve customers, patients and their families and to provide clear benefits and improve people's lives; plans to expand and diversify AMAG's portfolio and expectations regarding AMAG’s growth strategy through organic growth and the pursuit of products and companies are forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, those identified in AMAG’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including AMAG’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended June 30, 2015 and September 30, 2015, and subsequent filings with the SEC. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. We disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise any such statements to reflect any change in expectations or in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.
AMAG Pharmaceuticals ® is a registered trademark of AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Cord Blood Registry ® and CBR ® are registered trademarks of CBR Systems, Inc. Makena ® is a registered trademark of Lumara Health IP Ltd.
AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Contact: Maryann Cimino Manager, Corporate Communications & External Affairs 617-498-3375
