Dendreon Announces CEO and Chairman Succession Plan
John H. Johnson Elected President, Chief Executive Officer and
Chairman-Elect, Dr. Mitchell H. Gold Elected Executive Chairman
Company to Hold Conference Call Today at 9:00 a.m. ET/6:00 a.m. PT
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
February 1, 2012 — Dendreon Corporation (Nasdaq: DNDN) today announced
that its Board of Directors has elected John H. Johnson to the position
of president and chief executive officer (CEO), to succeed Mitchell H.
Gold, MD, who has served as president and CEO for nearly a decade. Dr.
Gold has been elected executive chairman and will serve in that role
until June 30, 2012, at which point he will continue to serve as a
director and Mr. Johnson will become chairman.
Mr. Johnson has been a member of Dendreon's Board of Directors since
August 2011 and brings to Dendreon nearly 30 years of experience in the
life sciences industry, including serving as president, CEO, and
director at Savient Pharmaceuticals, president of Eli Lilly's Oncology
Business Unit, CEO of ImClone System, and company group chairman of
Johnson & Johnson's Worldwide Biopharmaceuticals.
"As Dendreon continues its evolution into a global oncology company, I
am pleased to hand over the reins to John, whose drive and significant
global oncology expertise will advance our continued growth as a leading
biotechnology company, benefiting our customers, our employees, our
shareholders and, most importantly, patients with advanced prostate
cancer," said Mitchell H. Gold, MD, executive chairman of Dendreon. "I
am proud that our employees at Dendreon have made an indelible mark in
cancer care with the discovery, development, and approval of PROVENGE®
(sipuleucel-T), the world's first cancer immunotherapy. Our commitment
to changing the way that cancer is treated has never been stronger, and
I look forward to working with John to accelerate our efforts."
"I am honored to take on this important role to help lead Dendreon into
the next chapter of growth, and I have great respect for all that Mitch
has accomplished over the past decade in ushering in a new era in
medicine for patients with cancer," said John H. Johnson, president and
CEO of Dendreon. "With the important progress that has been made with
the commercial launch of PROVENGE, I am invigorated by the challenge of
taking Dendreon to the next level. I look forward to working with
Dendreon's executive team and the Board as we look to build a global,
fully integrated oncology business."
After more than 15 years of research and development, Dendreon
introduced a new era in cancer treatment with the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) approval of PROVENGE, the world's first autologous
cellular immunotherapy. The Cleveland Clinic recognized PROVENGE as one
of the top 10 medical innovations of 2010.
"John has spent most of the last decade successfully building oncology
companies, and we believe his substantial oncology and global
commercial, research and development experience makes him the ideal
candidate to succeed Mitch. During his tenure as a director, he has
proven to be a meaningful contributor as Dendreon further evolves as a
global commercial enterprise, and we welcome John to his new role," said
Richard B. Brewer, director and former chairman of the Board. "On behalf
of Dendreon's Board of Directors, we thank Mitch for his exceptional
leadership over the past decade and his unwavering commitment to
patients with cancer. We believe that Mitch's role as executive chairman
will ensure a stable and strong transition takes place as he hands over
the reins to John."
After 8 years of service as chairman, Mr. Brewer will continue to serve
as a member of the Board of Directors.
"I am grateful to Dick for his meaningful contributions and dedication
as chairman of the board over the years, and respect his passion and
commitment to bring PROVENGE to patients with cancer," said Dr. Gold.
"I have appreciated working with Dick as I joined Dendreon's Board, and
I look forward to working with him as we continue to build a
fully-integrated global oncology company," said Mr. Johnson.
The Board also elected Douglas G. Watson as its lead independent
director. Mr. Watson has served on the Board for 12 years.
About John H. Johnson
John H. Johnson was appointed chief executive officer of Savient
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in January 2011. Prior to this appointment, Mr.
Johnson served as a senior vice president of Eli Lilly and Company and
president of Lilly Oncology Business Unit, where he was responsible for
multi-billion dollar franchise including a development portfolio of over
30 oncology products. From August 2007 to November 2009, Mr. Johnson was
chief executive officer of ImClone Systems, and served on ImClone's
board of directors until the company was acquired by Lilly in November
2008. While at ImClone, Mr. Johnson managed the market expansion of
colorectal cancer treatment Erbitux, overseeing the global growth of the
billion dollar brand and eventual sale of the company to Eli Lilly for
$6.5 billion. Prior to joining ImClone, Mr. Johnson had served as
company group chairman of Johnson & Johnson's Worldwide
Biopharmaceuticals unit since 2005. Mr. Johnson began his health care
career with Pfizer in 1983, where he held positions of increasing
responsibility in sales and sales management. He joined Johnson &
Johnson in 1988 and advanced through positions of increasing
responsibility with Ortho-McNeil. In 2000, he served as president and
chief executive officer for Parkstone Medical Information Systems. Mr.
Johnson returned to Johnson & Johnson in 2001 as worldwide vice
president, CNS/psychiatry, for Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals Group
Strategic Marketing. He was appointed president of Ortho Biotech
Products, L.P. in 2003 and assumed additional responsibility for Ortho
Biotech Canada in 2004. He is currently a member of the Board of
Directors for Dendreon Corporation, Cempra Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and
Tranzyme Pharma, Inc. Mr. Johnson received his bachelor's degree from
East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania.
About Dr. Mitchell H. Gold
Dr. Mitchell H. Gold has served as president and chief executive officer
of Dendreon since 2003. Dr. Gold is also a member of Dendreon's Board of
Directors. Dr. Gold previously served as Dendreon's vice president of
business development and as chief business officer. Prior to joining
Dendreon, Dr. Gold previously served as vice president of business
development and vice president of sales and marketing for Data Critical
Corporation, a company engaged in wireless transmission of critical
healthcare data, now a division of GE Medical. Dr. Gold was the
president, chief executive officer, and a co-founder of Elixis
Corporation, a medical information systems company. For his
contributions to science through his leadership at Dendreon, Dr. Gold
was given the "Oliver R. Grace Award" by the Cancer Research Institute
and was named a runner-up for "Smartest CEO" by Fortune Magazine in
their "Smartest People in Tech" issue. He was voted "Entrepreneur of the
Year" in the Pacific Northwest by Ernst and Young. At the annual Laguna
CEO Biotech Meeting, Dendreon received the Hall of Fame Award for Best
Company for its cumulative contributions to the industry. Locally,
Seattle Magazine named Dr. Gold the top influencer in medicine in 2010,
and Dendreon was recognized as the most innovative company at the 2010
Washington State Governor's Life Sciences Summit. Dr. Gold currently
serves on the board of the University of Washington/Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center Prostate Cancer Institute. Dr. Gold received his
B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his M.D. from Rush
Medical College in Chicago. Dr. Gold was a resident physician in the
Department of Urology at the University of Washington.
Conference Call Information
Dendreon will host a conference call on February 1, 2012 at 9:00 a.m.
ET. To access the live call, dial 1-877-548-9590 (domestic) or
+1-720-545-0037 (international); the conference ID number is 48222622.
The call also will be audio webcast and will be available from the
Company's website at http://www.dendreon.com under
the "Investor/Webcasts and Presentations" section. A recorded
rebroadcast will be available for interested parties unable to
participate in the live conference call by dialing 1-855-859-2056 or
+1-404-537-3406 for international callers; the conference ID number is
48222622. The replay will be available from 12:00 p.m. ET on February 1
until 11:59 p.m. ET on February 8. In addition, the webcast will be
archived for on-demand listening for 30 days at http://www.dendreon.com.
About Dendreon
Dendreon Corporation is a biotechnology company whose mission is to
target cancer and transform lives through the discovery, development,
commercialization and manufacturing of novel therapeutics. The Company
applies its expertise in antigen identification, engineering and cell
processing to produce active cellular immunotherapy (ACI) product
candidates designed to stimulate an immune response in a variety of
tumor types. Dendreon's first product, PROVENGE® (sipuleucel-T), was
approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April 2010.
Dendreon is exploring the application of additional ACI product
candidates and small molecules for the potential treatment of a variety
of cancers. The Company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington and is
traded on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol DNDN. For more
information about the Company and its programs, visit http://www.dendreon.com/.
This news release contains forward-looking statements that are
subject to risks and uncertainties. Factors that could affect these
forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, developments
affecting Dendreon's business and prospects, including progress on the
commercialization efforts for PROVENGE. Information on the
factors and risks that could affect Dendreon's business, financial
condition and results of operations are contained in Dendreon's public
disclosure filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission,
which are available at www.sec.gov.
Dendreon cautions investors not to place undue reliance on the
forward-looking statements contained in this press release. All
forward-looking statements are based on information currently available
to Dendreon on the date hereof, and Dendreon undertakes no obligation to
revise or update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or
circumstances after the date of this press release, except as required
by law.
Dendreon Corporation
Katherine Stueland, 206-829-1522
Vice
President, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations
kstueland@dendreon.com
Source: Dendreon Corporation
News Provided by Acquire Media
Close window | Back to top
Delicious
Digg
Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter
Mixx
Yahoo! Buzz