Pharmalink Strengthens its Board Of Directors

STOCKHOLM, July 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Pharmalink AB, a specialty pharma company focused on orphan and niche products, is very pleased to announce that Mrs Ann-Tove Kongsnes, Mrs Hilde Furberg and Mr Olav Hellebø were elected as new members of its Board of Directors at the Company's recent shareholders' meeting held in Stockholm. At the same meeting, Ms Elisabeth Lindner stepped down from the Board.

Ann-Tove Kongsnes (born 1967) is an Investment Director at Investinor, Norway's largest investor in venture and expansion capital and an investor in Pharmalink. Ms Kongsnes holds an MSc in Economics and Business Administration from Bodø College (HiB) and the Advanced Program in Corporate Finance at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH). She was previously an investment manager at ProVenture Managment AS, Business Development Manager at Leiv Eiriksson Nyskaping AS, Director of Marketing & Operations at NSEC Inc. and Marketing Manager at the Norwegian Seafood Export Council. In addition to Pharmalink, Mrs Kongsnes is a board member of Investinor's portfolio companies Ayanda AS, Nordic Seafarms AS, poLight AS, and Soundrop AS. She is also deputy board member at BerGenBio AS and head of International Affairs at Investinor. Investinor holds 22% of Pharmalink AB.

Hilde Furberg (born 1958) has 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. She is currently Senior Vice President Rare Disease EMEA at Genzyme (a Sanofi company), which she joined in 2002. She opened the first operation for Genzyme in the Nordic region and has also had responsibility for Genzyme in the Benelux region. Prior to Genzyme, Mrs Furberg spent 15 years at Baxter in various business roles of increasing seniority, before which she was involved in the start-up of Pharmalink. Previous board memberships include Algeta ASA, Clavis Pharma ASA, Pronova Biopharma ASA, Probi AB and Copenhagen Capacity. Mrs Furberg holds a Master of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Oslo.

Olav Hellebø (born 1965) is the chairman and co-founder of Palma Biotech S.L. in Spain and an experienced pharmaceutical executive who has held senior positions in the pharmaceutical industry in both Europe and the USA. Most recently he was CEO of Clavis Pharma ASA and before that he was Senior Vice President, UCB Pharma and President of Immunology Operations. In this position he built and led the global organization responsible for the successful registration and launch of Cimzia^®, UCB's antibody drug for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease. From 2003 to 2004, Mr Hellebø was Chief Operating Officer of Novartis UK and prior to that held a series of senior international roles at Schering Plough, the last as head of Schering Plough's Oncology Biotech Division in the USA. Mr Hellebø graduated Summa cum Laude in international business studies from Hofstra University, New York and received an MBA from IESE, Barcelona.  

Anders P. Wiklund, Pharmalink's Chairman, said: "We are very pleased to welcome Ann-Tove, Hilde, and Olav to the Pharmalink Board. Between them, they have a wealth of experience in the global pharma industry, in the development and commercialisation of innovative new therapies, as well as more broadly in corporate development. We look forward to the valuable contributions they will make to the further growth and development of Pharmalink as we enter an exciting phase of development with our two late-stage clinical products Nefecon® and Busulipo™. We would also like to thank Elisabeth Lindner, who stepped down from the Board at the shareholders' meeting, for her efforts and input during her time with the Company."

About Pharmalink 

Pharmalink is a Swedish specialty pharma company developing high-value products for niche indications. Pharmalink draws on its extensive experience of pharmaceutical development and marketing to identify and progress products that address significant unmet medical needs. With a successful history in pharmaceutical sales and marketing, and highly experienced, dynamic management team, Pharmalink is focused on the development and commercialization of valuable, de-risked projects. It has two late-stage clinical phase products under development, Nefecon^® and Busulipo™. Pharmalink is actively seeking opportunities to acquire or in-license product opportunities in niche and hospital care indications. Visit http://www.pharmalink.se for further information.

For further information, please contact:
Pharmalink AB:
Johan Häggblad, Managing Director, +46-(0)70-668-0644
Email: [email protected]  

Marek Poszepczynski, Business Development Director, +46-(0)70-377-22-73
Email: [email protected]

http://www.pharmalink.se  

Citigate Dewe Rogerson:
Chris Gardner/Mark Swallow, +44-207-638-9571
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Pharmalink