Idorsia announces changes to Idorsia Executive Committee and Board
of Directors
Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR
- Jean-Paul Clozel to retire as CEO and stand for election as
Chairman of the Board of Directors
- Mathieu Simon to stand for re-election to the Board – taking on
the role of Vice-Chairman and Lead Independent Director
- André C. Muller, current CFO of Idorsia, to take over the role
of CEO as of June 13, 2024
Allschwil, Switzerland – May 21, 2024
Idorsia Ltd (SIX: IDIA) today announced changes to the Idorsia
Executive Committee (IEC) and will propose changes in membership of
the Board of Directors at the upcoming Annual General Meeting of
shareholders (AGM), to be held on June 13, 2024.
Jean-Paul Clozel, 69, has decided to retire from his role as
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Idorsia and stand for election as
Chairman of the Board of Directors at this year’s AGM. Jean-Paul
has served as CEO of Idorsia since its foundation – the result of
demerging the drug discovery and early clinical pipeline of
Actelion, as part of the USD 30 billion acquisition. Jean-Paul had
previously co-founded Actelion in 1997 and went on to lead the
company as CEO in 2000 when the company became publicly traded.
Jean-Paul Clozel, MD and CEO of Idorsia,
commented:
“It has been an absolute privilege to serve as CEO of Actelion and
Idorsia for the past 24 years. I can think of no greater endeavor
than discovering new medicines that help patients lead better
lives. I’ve been very fortunate to work alongside some amazing
people from all disciplines and together, we have achieved more
than I could have ever imagined when I started out in my research
career. The time is right for me to retire from the day-to-day
running of Idorsia and hand the reins over to a younger generation
to lead the company through the next phase of growth. Having
devoted so much energy to Idorsia, I want to stay engaged and
support the company to realize its potential, hence me standing for
election as Chairman. I’m confident that Mathieu and I will form a
strong partnership in leading the Board. I will also be able to
devote more time to science which has always been my passion.”
From June 13, 2024, André C. Muller will take on the position of
CEO. André has served as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of
Idorsia since its foundation and has taken the lead in the
company’s Business Development initiatives in recent years. Before
establishing Idorsia, André served as CFO of Actelion from 2013,
leading the company through its acquisition and playing a crucial
role in the demerger process.
Jean-Paul Clozel, commented:
“André has played a critical role in advancing Idorsia,
particularly regarding our fund-raising and business development
activities. He has shown the perfect qualities of a biotech leader;
creativity, solution-oriented, resilient, a team-player and
pragmatic – all qualities that we need to successfully discover and
develop innovative drugs. Having worked with André for more than 10
years, I have observed that, despite not being a scientist by
training, he has a keen understanding of innovative drug discovery
and development. I have absolute confidence that he is the right
person to prepare the company for an exciting future.”
As a result of André becoming CEO, the role of CFO will remain
an IEC member and be taken by Arno Groenewoud, the current Head of
Finance and Procurement. In addition, Julien Gander, Group General
Counsel, will become a member of the IEC.
André C. Muller, Chief Financial Officer,
commented:
“I am very honored that the Board, its current Chairman, Mathieu
Simon, and Jean-Paul have put this trust in me, particularly
following such a long and successful tenure for Jean-Paul as CEO. I
look forward to the challenge of delivering on the high
expectations we have for Idorsia and will work closely with all
colleagues around the globe who never fail to impress with their
commitment and expertise. I welcome Arno and Julien to the
executive team. Having worked closely with both Arno and Julien, I
am convinced that their skills and strategic thinking will be vital
as the company moves towards financial sustainability while
managing multiple partnerships.”
As of June 13, 2024, the IEC will consist of 5 members: André
Muller, CEO; Martine Clozel, Chief Scientific Officer; Alberto
Gimona, Head of Global Clinical Development; Arno Groenewoud, CFO;
and Julien Gander, Group General Counsel.
At this year’s Annual General Meeting, the Board will propose a
reduced number of Board members for the time being. Three of the
current Board members – Jörn Aldag, Felix Ehrat, Peter Kellogg –
will not stand for re-election, with only one new member, Bart
Filius, being proposed to the Board. The following Board members
will stand for re-election: Jean-Paul Clozel (proposed Chairman),
Mathieu Simon (Vice-Chairman and Lead Independent Director),
Srishti Gupta, Sophie Kornowski, and Sandy Mahatme.
Mathieu Simon, Chairman of the Board of Idorsia
commented:
“This year, the Board has held numerous additional meetings to
discuss and review the various strategic initiatives. I’m very
grateful for each member contributing generously with their
expertise and experience. To those not standing for re-election, I
say thank you for serving the company with professionalism and
dedication. Bart’s very extensive financing, business development,
and commercial experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical
industry would be invaluable to Idorsia. I am completely behind the
new management team, and proposing Jean-Paul to the Chairmanship,
and I look forward to serving as Vice-Chairman and Lead Independent
Director with the other members of the Board focused on guiding
Idorsia as we execute our strategy.”
Following a competitive selection process, the company considers
it appropriate to invite a fresh perspective by proposing the
election of Deloitte AG, Basel as a new statutory auditor.
Notes to the editor
About Jean-Paul Clozel
Jean-Paul Clozel, 69, is a cardiologist educated in France. He
furthered his training in pharmacology and physiology at the
University of Montreal, Canada, University of California, and San
Francisco. After eleven years as a clinician, he decided to move to
applied research and joined the Roche Cardiovascular Drug Discovery
group. During his 12 years at F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Jean-Paul
was responsible for the selection of the first calcium T-channel
blocker and contributed to several key research programs, such as
the selection of the first orally active renin inhibitor and the
characterization of several anti-thrombotic agents.
During his 25-year-career in cardiovascular research, Jean-Paul
has published widely in peer-reviewed medical and scientific
journals. At the same time, his passion has remained unchanged:
being involved as closely as possible in bringing innovative
medicine to "his" patients. He has developed various novel
experimental models allowing for the differentiation of these
drugs, work honored with the 1997 Hoffmann-La Roche Research Prize.
In 2007, he was nominated for a professorship at the Collège de
France in Paris, France (Chair of Technical Innovation).
At the end of 1997, Jean-Paul co-founded Actelion to continue
his work in cardiovascular research and development. In April 2000,
he assumed the role of CEO when Actelion became a publicly traded
company and subsequently launched three blockbuster drugs.
With the acquisition of Actelion by Johnson & Johnson in
June 2017, Jean-Paul co-founded Idorsia, a new biopharmaceutical
company that was established by demerging the drug discovery and
early clinical pipeline business from Actelion. Idorsia is
specialized in the discovery and development of small molecules to
provide innovative medicines in areas of unmet patient need.
In the first 7 years of Idorsia’s existence, the company
launched two innovative drugs, one for the treatment of insomnia
disorder and one for the prevention of cerebral vasospasm following
subarachnoid hemorrhage, with a third medicine on the verge of
being launch for the treatment of uncontrolled blood pressure.
Idorsia continues to perform innovative research across multiple
therapeutic areas to feed its broad and diversified drug
development pipeline.
As a result of the establishment of Actelion and Idorsia,
several hundred new jobs have been created in Switzerland as well
as in other European countries, the US and Japan.
About André C. Muller
André C. Muller joined Idorsia at the time of its creation in June
2017 as Chief Financial Officer from Actelion, where he held the
same position since 2013. Prior to joining Actelion he held various
financial positions at Pierre Fabre SA, an international
pharmaceutical and dermo-cosmetic company, serving as CFO from
2002.
André, a French citizen, has a master’s degree in Business
Administration from EMLYON Business School, Lyon, France.
André also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the
listed company Carmat SA and the unlisted company Chiron
Investments AG.
About Bart Filius
Mr. Filius is the former President of Galapagos, a position he held
from 2021 to June 2023. He joined Galapagos in 2014 as Chief
Financial Officer and added the role of Chief Operating Officer in
2017. During his tenure at Galapagos, Bart managed the substantial
growth and financing of the company, including the IPO on Nasdaq in
2015 and subsequent follow-on financing transactions. He led the
negotiations of the R&D collaboration with Gilead in 2019 and
was instrumental in the build-out of the European commercial
organization. Bart is also a member of the Board and Chairman of
the Audit Committee of ProQR Therapeutics since 2019.
Prior to joining Galapagos, Mr. Filius held a variety of
executive positions at Sanofi between 2001 and 2014, including the
role of Vice President, Head of Mergers & Acquisitions, Country
manager for The Netherlands and Vice President, Chief Financial
Officer for Europe. Prior to joining Sanofi, Mr. Filius was a
strategy consultant at Arthur D. Little.
Mr. Filius has an MBA degree from INSEAD, France and a
bachelor’s degree in business from Nyenrode University, the
Netherlands
About Idorsia
Idorsia Ltd is reaching out for more – We have more ideas, we see
more opportunities and we want to help more patients. In order to
achieve this, we will develop Idorsia into a leading
biopharmaceutical company, with a strong scientific core.
Headquartered near Basel, Switzerland – a European biotech-hub –
Idorsia is specialized in the discovery, development and
commercialization of small molecules to transform the horizon of
therapeutic options. Idorsia has a 25-year heritage of drug
discovery, a broad portfolio of innovative drugs in the pipeline,
an experienced team of professionals covering all disciplines from
bench to bedside, and commercial operations in Europe and North
America – the ideal constellation for bringing innovative medicines
to patients.
Idorsia was listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ticker symbol:
IDIA) in June 2017 and has over 750 highly qualified specialists
dedicated to realizing our ambitious targets.
For further information, please contact
Andrew C. Weiss
Senior Vice President, Head of Investor Relations & Corporate
Communications
Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Hegenheimermattweg 91, CH-4123
Allschwil
+41 58 844 10 10
investor.relations@idorsia.com
media.relations@idorsia.com
www.idorsia.com
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or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions
prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those
described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated or
expected.
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