- Amgen and GlaxoSmithKline Veterans Bring Extensive European Sales and
Marketing Experience to Nabi Biopharmaceuticals -
BRAY, Ireland, Sept. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nabi Biopharmaceuticals
(Nasdaq: NABI) announced today that Edwin Klumper, M.D., has been named vice
president, sales and marketing, Europe, Nabi Biopharmaceuticals Europe
Limited; and Chris Tovey has been named country manager, Nabi
Biopharmaceuticals UK Limited. Dr. Klumper, a 15-year veteran in the
pharmaceutical industry, has held a number of leadership positions at Amgen.
Mr. Tovey, a 20-year veteran of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), has a proven track
record in successfully commercialising vaccines, anti-microbials and other
therapeutics throughout Europe.
In this newly created position, Dr. Klumper, who will be based at the
company's European headquarters in Bray, Ireland, will build and lead Nabi
Biopharmaceuticals' European regional sales and marketing capabilities,
formulate and execute its European business strategy and direct the marketing
efforts for the launch of its products in Europe, including StaphVAX(R)
(Staphylococcus aureus Polysaccharide Conjugate Vaccine), following approvals
for such products.
Mr. Tovey, who will be based in London, will build and lead Nabi
Biopharmaceuticals' UK and Ireland commercial organisation, launch the
company's products in those markets, and lead all related sales, marketing and
reimbursement initiatives. Mr. Tovey will also work with Dr. Klumper to lead
the European launches for StaphVAX.
LeRoux Jooste, senior vice president, global sales and marketing, Nabi
Biopharmaceuticals, stated, "Edwin and Chris are joining us at a critical and
exciting time, as we look forward to launching StaphVAX, PhosLo(R) and
HEBIG(TM) in Europe. Their appointments, and the competencies they bring to
Nabi Biopharmaceuticals, are directly aligned with our global
commercialisation plans. They will work together to build a world-class
leadership team in Europe dedicated to building our franchises in nephrology
and infection, and maximising our commercial success in our target European
markets. We look forward to benefiting from their expertise and to augmenting
our European team in a number of critical areas throughout 2005 and into 2006
under their leadership."
Most recently, Dr. Klumper served as brand director for Aranesp(R), a
licensed drug for the treatment of anaemia associated with chronic renal
failure and chemotherapy-induced anaemia. During his tenure with Amgen, he
refocused and aligned the company's European marketing strategy and led a
cross-functional team to build European key account management capabilities.
These efforts resulted in the achievement of optimal revenues for Aranesp and
a market leadership position for the product in Europe.
Dr. Klumper previously served as a business unit director at Amgen both in
the Netherlands and the UK, where he was responsible for leading the
nephrology unit. Prior to Amgen, Dr. Klumper worked at Asta Medica BV, in the
Netherlands, where he served as business unit manager for the company's
oncology portfolio. During his time at Asta Medica BV, he in-licensed a
portfolio of 10 generic oncology drugs and antibiotics, initiated and chaired
an EU-based strategy force, and continuously achieved his annual profit
targets. Dr. Klumper has also worked as a Research Fellow at VU Academic
Hospital in the Netherlands, and is the author of a number of peer-reviewed
articles. Dr. Klumper received his MBA from the Rotterdam School of
Management in the Netherlands and a Ph.D. and M.D. from VU Academic Hospital
in Amsterdam.
Mr. Tovey most recently served as director, commercial strategy
distribution, Europe, for GSK. During his tenure, he was responsible for
developing and leading key business initiatives within GSK, including market
distribution and trade strategy. Prior to this position, Mr. Tovey served as
director, vaccines therapy, for GSK, where he was responsible for leading
commercial strategy in Europe for GSK's broad vaccine portfolio, which
included both marketed vaccines and products in development. He also served
as GSK's director, commercial development, UK; director, vaccines business
unit, UK; and vaccines marketing manager, UK. He led pan European
commercialisation efforts for a broad range of adult and paediatric vaccines,
including Infanrix(R), Engerix(R)-B and Havrix(R), as well as leading sales
efforts for antibiotic products for infectious diseases and Staphylococcal
infections, including Augmentin(R), Zinnat(R), Timentin(R), and Bactroban(R).
Mr. Tovey received a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Biology from the
University of Liverpool, UK.
About Nabi Biopharmaceuticals
Nabi Biopharmaceuticals leverages its experience and knowledge in powering
the immune system to develop and market products that fight serious medical
conditions. We are poised to capture large, commercial opportunities in our
core business areas: Gram-positive bacterial infections, hepatitis, and kidney
disease (nephrology), and opportunistically in nicotine addiction. We have
three products on the market today: PhosLo(R) (calcium acetate), Nabi-HB(R)
[Hepatitis B Immune Globulin (Human)], and Aloprim(TM) [Allopurinol sodium
(for injection)] and a number of products in various stages of clinical and
preclinical development. The company filed its Marketing Authorization
Application (MAA) in Europe for its product candidate, StaphVAX(R)
[Staphylococcus aureus Polysaccharide Conjugate Vaccine], in December 2004.
The application was accepted for review in January 2005. StaphVAX is
currently in a confirmatory Phase III clinical trial in the United States.
StaphVAX is designed to prevent the most dangerous and prevalent strains of S.
aureus bacterial infections. S. aureus bacteria are a major cause of
hospital-acquired infections and are becoming increasingly resistant to
antibiotics. The company also filed MAA's in Europe to market Nabi-HB(R)
Intravenous [Hepatitis B Immune Globulin (Human) Intravenous] under the trade
name HEBIG(TM) for the prevention of hepatitis B disease in HBV-positive liver
transplant patients; and for PhosLo(R) (calcium acetate), which is already
marketed in the U.S. The company's other products in development include
Altastaph(TM) [Staphylococcus aureus Immune Globulin Intravenous (Human)], an
antibody for prevention and treatment of S. aureus infections, NicVAX(TM)
[Nicotine Conjugate Vaccine], a vaccine to treat nicotine addiction, and
Civacir(TM) [Hepatitis C Immune Globulin (Human)], an antibody for preventing
hepatitis C virus re-infection in liver transplant patients. For additional
information on Nabi Biopharmaceuticals, please visit our website at
http://www.nabi.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the
company's current expectations regarding future events. Any such forward-
looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve
significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ significantly
from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of any number of
factors, including, but not limited to, risks relating to the possibility that
our confirmatory Phase III clinical trial for StaphVAX or our plans to
commercialize StaphVAX in the European Union and United States may not be
successful; the possibility that we may not realize the value of our
acquisition of PhosLo; the company's ability to raise additional capital on
acceptable terms; the company's dependence upon third parties to manufacture
its products; the company's ability to utilize the full capacity of its
manufacturing facility; the impact on sales of Nabi-HB from patient treatment
protocols and the number of liver transplants performed in HBV-positive
patients; reliance on a small number of customers; the future sales growth
prospects for the company's biopharmaceutical products; and the company's
ability to obtain regulatory approval for its products in the United States or
abroad or to successfully develop, manufacture and market its products. These
factors are more fully discussed in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the fiscal year ended December 25, 2004 filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
SOURCE Nabi Biopharmaceuticals
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Related links:
http://www.nabi.com
CONTACT:
Constance C. Bienfait, VP, Investor
Relations, Nabi Biopharmaceuticals, +1-561-989-5800
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