AFFiRiS AG Invests Into Human Capital - Chief Business Officer Recruited

VIENNA, December 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

AFFiRiS AG announced today that Ali Alloueche is taking senior responsibility for their expanding business development activities. This new management position has been established as a result of the growing development pipeline of the Viennese biopharmaceutical company. As a member of the management team, Ali Alloueche will strategically and operationally support the development of AFFiRiS AG. Before joining AFFiRiS, Ali Alloueche was Head of External R&D at the leading vaccine manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, Belgium.

AFFiRiS AG has appointed Ali Alloueche as Chief Business Officer. In this position he will oversee business activities, strategic alliances and partnerships arising from the continuously growing pipeline of the Viennese biopharmaceutical company. Based on strong IP-positions and its AFFITOME©-technology, AFFiRiS has a diversified pipeline with four vaccine candidates currently in clinical phases and other attractive candidates in pre-clinical stage. Target indications include Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Atherosclerosis and Hypertension - all diseases with unmet medical needs and attractive market potential.

Prior to joining AFFiRiS Ali Alloueche was Head External R&D at GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals in Belgium. In this position he expanded the company's R&D pipeline and extended its network of collaborators and business partners. In this role, he identified AFFiRiS's Alzheimer's vaccine candidates for GlaxoSmithKline - an activity in 2007 that culminated in a up to EUR 430 million-deal between both companies in October 2008. Prior to GlaxoSmithKline, Ali Alloueche was Research Director at Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics in Italy and Head Translational Medicine and Scientific Affairs. Commenting on his new position, Ali Alloueche says: "AFFiRiS is one of the most dynamic biopharmaceutical companies in Europe. The company's focus on clinical programs and its robust financial position offer great business opportunities. I am excited about the opportunity to contribute to the further success of AFFiRiS at this particular stage of the company's development."

"Our growing development-pipeline creates more and more business opportunities," comments Walter Schmidt, co-founder and CEO of AFFiRiS, "Together with Ali we will exploit these opportunities further and add to our successful track record of business alliances. The experience he has gained in senior positions at two top ten pharmaceutical companies is a valuable addition to AFFiRiS's in-house expertise."

About AFFiRiS AG (date December 2011):

On the basis of the company's own patent positions AFFiRiS develops tailor-made peptide vaccines for Alzheimer's disease, Atherosclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Hypertension and several other conditions with unmet medical need and attractive market sizes. Alzheimer's is the current lead indication. For the Alzheimer's vaccine program, a license and option agreement with GlaxoSmithKline was closed in October 2008, triggering an upfront payment of EUR 22.5 million. The contract envisages (milestone-dependent) payments of up to EUR 430 million. A first milestone payment of EUR 10 million was made in October 2009 followed by EUR 3.5 million as announced recently. AFFiRiS currently employs 82 highly qualified staff at the Campus Vienna Biocenter in Vienna, Austria (http://www.affiris.com).

Contact AFFiRiS AG:
Julia Bock
Karl-Farkas-Gasse 22
1030 Vienna, Austria
T +43/(0)1/798-15-75-303
E  [email protected]  
W http://www.affiris.com

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Mariannengasse 8
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T +43/(0)1/505-70-44
E [email protected]  
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SOURCE AFFiRiS AG