PRESS RELEASE
September 16, 2016
Saniona, a leading biotech company in the field of ion channels, today announces that Saniona's board member, Anker Lundemose, steps down from the board of Saniona as of today due to a potential conflict of interest in relation to one of the programs developed by Saniona.
Apart from being non-executive board member of Saniona, Anker Lundemose serves as Chief Executive Officer and board member of MISSION Therapeutics Limited, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
One of MISSION Therapeutics' main programs is within the Parkinson's disease space. On February 22, 2016, Saniona announced that The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research has awarded Saniona a research grant to develop small-molecule modulators of nicotine receptors and evaluate the feasibility of using these drug candidates for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.
Saniona and MISSION Therapeutics recognise that the two companies are focusing on different targets and that the programs are of relative early stage of development. Nevertheless, the possible conflict of interest has led the shareholders of MISSION Therapeutics believe that Anker Lundemose's involvement as board member of Saniona is inappropriate.
"While I understand the position of MISSION Therapeutics, I regret to leave the board of Saniona. Saniona has a mature pipeline with significant potential and I strongly believe in the company going forward. I've enjoyed cooperating with this very professional board, which I have been part of since the beginning." says Anker Lundemose," CEO of Mission Therapeutics.
"Anker is a co-founder of Saniona and has served as non-executive board member since the company was established in 2011. Anker has contributed significantly to the formation and development of the company through his broad experience and deep knowledge of the biotech industry." says Claus Braestrup, chairman of Saniona.
In accordance with the resolution made at the annual general meeting held on 10 May 2016, a nomination committee will be appointed based on the ownership in Saniona as of the end of September. The members of the nomination committee will be announced at the latest 6 months prior to the 2017 annual shareholders' meeting. The nomination committee will propose candidates for the members of the board before the 2017 annual general meeting.
The step down of Anker Lundemose is not expected to influence Saniona's plans for listing the company on Nasdaq Stockholm main market.
For more information, please contact
Thomas Feldthus, EVP and CFO, Saniona, Mobile: +45 2210 9957, E-mail: tf@saniona.com
This information is information that Saniona (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 08:00 CET on September 16, 2016
About Saniona
Saniona is a research and development company focused on drugs for diseases of the central nervous system, autoimmune diseases, metabolic diseases and treatment of pain. The company has a significant portfolio of potential drug candidates at pre-clinical and clinical stage. The research is focused on ion channels, which makes up a unique protein class that enables and controls the passage of charged ions across cell membranes. Saniona has ongoing collaboration agreements with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Upsher-Smith Laboratories, Inc., Productos Medix, S.A de S.V and Saniona's Boston based spinout Ataxion Inc., which is financed by Atlas Venture Inc. and Biogen Inc. Saniona is based in Copenhagen, Denmark, where it has a research center of high international standard. Saniona is listed at Nasdaq First North Premier and has about 4,400 shareholders. Pareto Securities is Certified Advisor for Saniona. The company's share is traded under the ticker SANION. Read more at www.saniona.com .
