Sosei Heptares Announces New Board Director Appointment and Executive Promotion

TOKYO and LONDON, March 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sosei Group Corporation ("the Company"; TSE: 4565) today announces the appointment of Mr. Rolf Soderstrom as a new Board Director and the promotion of Dr. Malcolm Weir to Executive Vice Chairman. These changes, which were announced at the Company's 30^th Shareholders' Meeting held in Tokyo today, alongside the completion of a realignment of its UK R&D organization in which a number of talented scientists were promoted, have been designed to strengthen the focus of Sosei Heptares on the execution of the next stage of the Company's growth strategy. This strategy aims to leverage Sosei Heptares' world-class Platform, Discovery and Early Development capabilities with a focus on advancing and extending its portfolio of Partnered Programs.

Details of the changes are as follows:

Board of Directors (effective 25 March 2020)

Chairman of the Board                                                         Shinichi Tamura (reappointed)

External Director                                                                 Tomohiro Tohyama (reappointed)

External Independent Director                                               Kuniaki Kaga (reappointed)

External Independent Director                                               David Roblin (reappointed)

External Independent Director                                               Noriaki Nagai (reappointed)

External Independent Director                                               Rolf Soderstrom (newly appointed)

Mr. Rolf Soderstrom is a newly appointed External Director. He brings over 30 years' experience in finance and a track record of accelerating the profitable growth of companies and delivering shareholder returns. Rolf has extensive strategic, operational and international experience including M&A, fundraisings and disposals. He was previously CFO at the UK-listed FTSE250 specialist healthcare company BTG plc (2008-2018), which was acquired by Boston Scientific for US$4.2 billion in 2019. Before that, Rolf was Divisional Finance Director at Cobham Plc and a Director of Corporate Finance at Cable & Wireless Plc. He qualified as a chartered accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Rolf's appointment follows the retirement of Mrs. Julia Gregory from the Sosei Group Board of Directors at today's Shareholders' meeting.

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Shinichi Tamura said: "On behalf of the Board and the Company's key stakeholders I would to like to thank Julia for her important contribution to the growth and development of the Group over the past three years. I would also like to welcome Rolf, whose financial and operational experience in the global biotech industry will be invaluable as we continue to deliver on our internationally focused growth strategy."

Executive Officers (effective 25 March 2020)

Representative Executive Officer,

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer                            Shinichi Tamura

Executive Vice Chairman                                                             Malcolm Weir

EVP, Chief Financial Officer                                                         Chris Cargill

EVP, Chief Medical Officer                                                           Tim Tasker

EVP, Group Chief Compliance Officer                                            Kazuhiko Yoshizumi

EVP, Representative Director President, Sosei Co. Ltd.                  Tadayoshi Yasui

Malcolm Weir, previously EVP Research and Early Development is appointed to the role of Executive Vice Chairman of Sosei Group Corporation, reporting to the President and CEO.

The promotion follows the realignment of Sosei Heptares' Research & Early Development organization in the UK. The new structure, which involved the creation of new leadership roles and several promotions, as well as enhanced resourcing initiatives, is designed to strengthen the Company's focus on the execution of the next stage of its growth strategy.

Chairman, President and CEO, Shinichi Tamura said: "I would like to congratulate Malcolm on his new role. He has made critical contributions as we have evolved the Company's growth strategy in the last 24 months. I am confident that with the Board, Executive team and realigned and focused organization we now have in place, Sosei Heptares is well placed to deliver on its goals and generate value for its shareholders."

About Sosei Heptares

We are an international biopharmaceutical group focused on the discovery and early development of new medicines originating from our proprietary GPCR-targeted StaR^® technology and structure-based drug design platform capabilities. We are advancing a broad and deep pipeline of novel medicines across multiple therapeutic areas, including CNS, immuno-oncology, gastroenterology, inflammation and other rare/specialty indications.

We have established partnerships with some of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, including Allergan, AstraZeneca, Daiichi-Sankyo, Genentech (Roche), Novartis, Pfizer and Takeda; and with innovative biotechnology companies, including Kymab, MorphoSys and PeptiDream. Sosei Heptares is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan with R&D facilities in Cambridge, UK.

"Sosei Heptares" is the corporate brand of Sosei Group Corporation, which is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (ticker: 4565). Sosei, Heptares, the logo and StaR^® are Trade Marks of Sosei Group companies.

For more information, please visit https://www.soseiheptares.com/

LinkedIn: @soseiheptaresco | Twitter: @soseiheptaresco | YouTube: @soseiheptaresco

Forward-looking statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements about the discovery, development and commercialization of products. Various risks may cause Sosei Group Corporation's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including: adverse results in clinical development programs; failure to obtain patent protection for inventions; commercial limitations imposed by patents owned or controlled by third parties; dependence upon strategic alliance partners to develop and commercialize products and services; difficulties or delays in obtaining regulatory approvals to market products and services resulting from development efforts; the requirement for substantial funding to conduct research and development and to expand commercialization activities; and product initiatives by competitors. As a result of these factors, prospective investors are cautioned not to rely on any forward-looking statements. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Enquiries:

Sosei Heptares 

Shinichiro Nishishita
VP Investor Relations
+81-(0)3-5210-3399
[email protected]

Candelle Chong 
VP Corporate Strategy and Communications
+44-(0)1223-949-392
[email protected]

Citigate Dewe Rogerson

Yas Fukuda
Japanese Media
+81-(0)3-4360-9241
[email protected]

Mark Swallow
David Dible – International Media
+44-(0)20-7638-9571
[email protected]

SOURCE Sosei Heptares