CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Transkaryotic
Therapies, Inc. (Nasdaq: TKTX) today announced that five key members of its
management team have been promoted. Neil Kirby, Ph.D. has been promoted to
Senior Vice President, Strategic Product Development and named a section 16b
officer of the company. The other executives who received promotions include
Paul (Kip) M. Martha, M.D. to Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer,
Gregory D. Perry to Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Linda
H. Pettingell to Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Corporate
Services, and Suzanne L. Bruhn, Ph.D. to Vice President, Global Regulatory
Affairs.
"These people form a key part of the team that has done a tremendous job
positioning the company for future growth and I am very pleased to announce
their promotions," said Michael J. Astrue, President and Chief Executive
Officer of TKT.
Dr. Kirby joined TKT in January 2002 as Vice President, Regulatory Affairs
with over 18 years of industry and academic experience, including an extensive
background in global regulatory affairs. At TKT he has managed global
regulatory affairs and more recently spearheaded the company's strategic
planning initiative and other portfolio management efforts. In this new role,
Dr. Kirby will have overall responsibility for TKT's program management,
regulatory affairs and strategic planning initiatives. He joined TKT from
Vertex Pharmaceuticals where he served as Program Executive for its commercial
and clinical HIV products. Prior to joining Vertex, he served as Project
Director, Hemophilia Products at Genetics Institute where he managed all
research and development efforts associated with this product franchise. Dr.
Kirby also held a variety of regulatory appointments, including positions at
both Genetics Institute and Biogen. He received a B.Pharm and a Ph.D. from
the University of London.
Dr. Martha joined TKT as Vice President, Clinical Affairs in January 2004
where he has managed all clinical research, biostatistics and clinical
operations activities related to the company's ongoing clinical development
programs. In his new role, he will have added responsibility for TKT's
medical affairs and pharmacovigilance functions and will continue to have
overall responsibility for the planning, implementation and management of
TKT's clinical development programs. He joined TKT from Interleukin Genetics
where he was Chief Medical and Regulatory Officer and Vice President for
Clinical Research and Development. Prior to joining Interleukin, Dr. Martha
was Vice President, Clinical R&D at PRAECIS Pharmaceuticals Inc. He also held
several positions at Genentech, including Director of Endocrinology and
Neurology, where he had overall responsibility for the clinical development of
the company's growth hormone products and related growth hormone factor
programs. Before joining the biotechnology industry, Dr. Martha was an
Assistant Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine and a practicing
Pediatric Endocrinologist at Baystate Medical Center. He has authored or co-
authored more than 100 articles, book chapters and abstracts in the medical
literature. He received a B.S. in Biology from Trinity College and an M.D.
from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He received his
professional training in pediatrics and conducted his Internship/Residency at
the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and his Fellowship in
endocrinology at the University of Virginia Medical Center.
Mr. Perry joined TKT in May 2003 as Vice President, Finance and Chief
Financial Officer. Since joining the company he has expanded the finance
function, raised $94 million through the sale of convertible debt, and
assisted in the acquisition of TKT Europe. Before joining TKT, he served as
Senior Vice President, Finance and Business Development, Life Sciences at
PerkinElmer, Inc. In this position, Mr. Perry was responsible for the
financial management of PerkinElmer's $500 million drug discovery tools and
genetic disease screening business, as well as information technology and
business development activities. Prior to joining PerkinElmer, he was Chief
Financial Officer of the Automotive Aftermarket Products Group at Honeywell.
During a fourteen-year tenure at General Electric, he held numerous positions
of increasing responsibility in finance and business development, most
recently as Chief Financial Officer of GE Medical Systems, Europe. Mr. Perry
received a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Amherst College.
Ms. Pettingell joined TKT as Vice President, Human Resources in September
2002 with nearly 20 years of experience in the creation and execution of
numerous human resources practices and policies, including employee
development, rewards, benefits, and employment. Over the past two years she
has expanded the Human Resource function, including initiatives in performance
management, compensation, and organizational development strategies. Before
joining TKT, Ms. Pettingell served as Vice President, Human Resources at
Genetic MicroSystems Inc. from 1998 through its acquisition by Affymetrix Inc.
in 2002. Ms. Pettingell was a founding partner at HR Alliance, Inc. where she
specialized in human resources for fast growth biotechnology companies. She
also held human resources positions at KPMG, Inc. She received a B.S. in
Business/Human Resource Management from Northeastern University.
Dr. Bruhn joined TKT in 1998 where she implemented the company's program
management function and processes, ultimately becoming Vice President, Program
Management. Dr. Bruhn became Vice President, Regulatory Affairs in 2003 and
was responsible for all aspects of TKT's U.S. regulatory affairs. Prior to
joining TKT, she held a variety of positions at CytoTherapeutics, Inc.,
including Program Manager for ophthalmic indications and Scientist in the
Department of Cell and Molecular Neurobiology. Before joining the
biotechnology industry, Dr. Bruhn was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the
Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Bruhn received a B.S.
from Iowa State University of Science and Technology and a Ph.D. from
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
About TKT
Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company primarily
focused on researching, developing and commercializing treatments for rare
diseases caused by protein deficiencies. Within this focus, the company
markets Replagal(TM), an enzyme replacement therapy for Fabry disease, and is
developing treatments for Hunter syndrome and Gaucher disease. In addition to
its focus on rare diseases, TKT intends to commercialize Dynepo(TM), its Gene-
Activated(R) erythropoietin product for anemia related to kidney disease, in
the European Union. TKT was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, with additional operations in Europe, Canada and
South America. Additional information about TKT is available on the company's
website at http://www.tktx.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding TKT's
management structure, as well as statements containing the words "believes,"
"anticipates," "plans," "expects," "estimates," "intends," "should," "could,"
"will," "may," and similar expressions. There are a number of important
factors that could cause the company's actual results to differ materially
from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, including whether TKT
will be able to successfully manage its operations including financial
operations, human resource management, regulatory affairs, and other factors
set forth under the caption "Risk Factors" in the company's Quarterly Report
on Form 10-Q filed November 9, 2004, with the Securities and Exchange
Commission and are incorporated herein by reference. While the company may
elect to update forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the
company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so, even if its
expectations change.
Gene-Activated(R) is a registered trademark and Replagal(TM) is a
trademark of Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc. Dynepo(TM) is a trademark of
Sanofi-Aventis.
For More Information Contact:
Justine E. Koenigsberg
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
(617) 349-0271
Daniella M. Lutz
Corporate Communications Manager
(617) 349-0205
SOURCE Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.tktx.com
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AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
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Company News On-Call:
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CONTACT:
Justine E. Koenigsberg, Senior Director,
Corporate Communications, +1-617-349-0271, or Daniella M. Lutz,
Corporate Communications Manager, +1-617-349-0205 both of
Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc.
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