Pharming CFO to Step Down

LEIDEN, Netherlands, March 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Pharming Group N.V. (Euronext Amsterdam: PHARM) today announced that its Chief Financial Officer, Robin Wright, has decided (for family reasons) not to put himself up for re-election as a member of the Board of Management and thus as Chief Financial Officer at the upcoming General Meeting of Shareholders on 20 May 2020 and that, as result of this decision, his term with the Company will end as at that date.

Paul Sekhri, Chairman of the Board of Supervisory Directors, said:

"On behalf of the company, I want to thank Robin for his many contributions to Pharming. Over the past five years, Robin has had an important role in the transformation of our Company to the strong, profitable stand-alone entity that we have become. We thank Robin for his dedication and hard work and wish him well in his future endeavors."

Sijmen de Vries, Chief Executive of Pharming, said:

"Robin's skills, hard work and dedication played a vital part in getting the deals done that have fundamentally changed Pharming, helping to turning a small Dutch company into an international integrated commercial biopharma company with a strong pipeline and a strong financial base. We would like to thank him for all this and wish him all the best for the future."

Robin Wright, Chief Financial Officer, commented: 

"I have thoroughly enjoyed my five years at Pharming and I look back proudly on what we have achieved. It has been a privilege to be part of the team that has delivered the transformation of Pharming into a successful and profitable international enterprise, with great potential to grow further. I wish the company great success in all its ventures."

The process of finding a new Chief Financial Officer has been initiated.

About Pharming Group N.V.

Pharming is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing innovative products for the safe, effective treatment of rare diseases and unmet medical needs. Pharming's lead product, RUCONEST® (conestat alfa) is a recombinant human C1 esterase inhibitor approved for the treatment of acute Hereditary Angioedema ("HAE") attacks in patients in Europe, the US, Israel and South Korea. The product is available on a named-patient basis in other territories where it has not yet obtained marketing authorisation.

RUCONEST® is commercialised by Pharming in the US and in Europe, and the Company holds all other commercialisation rights in other countries not specified below. In some of these other countries distribution is made in association with the HAEi Global Access Program (GAP). RUCONEST® is distributed in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Panama, and Venezuela by Cytobioteck, in South Korea by HyupJin Corporation and in Israel by Kamada.

RUCONEST® is also being evaluated for various additional indications. Pharming's technology platform includes a unique production process that has proven capable of producing industrial quantities of pure high quality recombinant human proteins in a more economical and less immunogenic way compared with current cell-line based methods.

Leads for enzyme replacement therapy ("ERT") for Pompe and Fabry's diseases are also being produced and optimised respectively at present.

Pharming has recently in-licensed leniolisib from Novartis, a small molecule and selective PI3Kδ inhibitor, which is in a registrational study for activated PI3K-delta syndrome (APDS), a rare form of Primary Immunodeficiency.

Pharming has a long term partnership with the China State Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry ("CSIPI"), a Sinopharm company, for joint global development of new products, starting with recombinant human Factor VIII for the treatment of Haemophilia A. Preclinical development and manufacturing will take place to global standards at CSIPI and its affiliates and are funded by CSIPI. Clinical development will be shared between the partners with each partner taking the costs for their territories under the partnership.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release of Pharming Group N.V. and its subsidiaries ("Pharming", the "Company") may contain forward-looking statements including without limitation those regarding Pharming's financial projections, market expectations, developments, partnerships, plans, strategies and capital expenditures.

The Company cautions that such forward-looking statements may involve certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ. Risks and uncertainties include without limitation the effect of competitive, political and economic factors, legal claims, the Company's ability to protect intellectual property, fluctuations in exchange and interest rates, changes in taxation laws or rates, changes in legislation or accountancy practices and the Company's ability to identify, develop and successfully commercialize new products, markets or technologies.

As a result, the Company's actual performance, position and financial results and statements may differ materially from the plans, goals and expectations set forth in such forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or information, which should be taken as of their respective dates of issue, unless required by laws or regulations.

For further public information, contact:
Sijmen de Vries, CEO: T: +31 71 524 7400

FTI Consulting
Victoria Foster Mitchell, T: +44 203 727 1136

LifeSpring Life Sciences Communication, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Leon Melens, Tel: +31 6 53 81 64 27

PRN NLD