Symphogen Announces the Appointment of Annika Espander Jansson as Non-Executive Director

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, December 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Symphogen A/S, a private biopharmaceutical company with leadership in recombinant antibody mixtures for therapeutic use, today announces the appointment of Annika Espander Jansson as a Non-Executive Director of the Board, with effect from 19 December 2013.

Annika has over twenty years' experience in the healthcare sector, both as a sell-side analyst and investor. She has a proven track record in strategic development of businesses and broad experience in managing operations in different segments of the financial markets.

Annika began her career as Equity Analyst and Sector Head of Healthcare at Aros Securities in Stockholm 1994-1996, followed by similar roles at Enskilda Securities, where she was Sector Head of Equity Research in Healthcare for five years, and Handelsbanken Capital Markets, where she gained experience of the financial services sector and became Group Head of Private Banking.  She joined Catella Healthcare, a private venture capital investor in healthcare companies, in 2004 as Managing Partner of a small team of professionals, during which time the IRR of the company's portfolio exceeded 35%.  Annika returned to Handelsbanken as Global Head of Private Banking in September 2010-June 2013 during which time the bank's ranking was upgraded to No. 1, according to the influential client survey - Prospera.

Annika is currently the founder and CEO of Asperia, a strategic and business advisory firm in the healthcare and financial services sectors. She is also a Board member of the public companies Stille AB and Probi AB, private portfolio companies Attana AB, Cellartis AB and Duocort AB, as well as the Swedish Financial Analyst Organisation. Annika holds a Ph.D. from the University of Gothenburg.

Welcoming the appointment, Göran Ando MD, Chairman of the Board, commented: "I am delighted to welcome Annika to Symphogen. Annika's extensive experience in both the healthcare industry and financial markets makes her a perfect addition to the Board.  Annika's skills, knowledge and experience will be invaluable to furthering the success of Symphogen."

Annika Espander Jansson added: "I am very excited to take part in the development of Symphogen which operates in a very important medical area with significant unmet medical needs and with a business concept aiming at improving therapies for cancer patients."

About Symphogen A/S  

Symphogen is developing next-generation antibody therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and is dedicated to bringing truly innovative oncology products to the market.

The company has advanced the frontier of antibody discovery by creating well-characterized antibody mixtures that address multiple oncology targets in a single drug product. The company has matured its oncology pipeline and has currently brought two product candidates into the clinic. The company's productive technology suite - capable of identifying, selecting and manufacturing optimal antibody mixtures - fuels Symphogen's innovative pipeline.

The lead oncology product, Sym004, was out-licensed to Merck KGaA in 2012 following phase 2 clinical data in late stage cancer patients.

In total, the company has raised €249 million in equity capital from premier international investors including Novo, Essex Woodlands Health Ventures and PKA, and employs 95 people, most of whom are based at Symphogen's facilities in Copenhagen.

For additional information, please contact:
Kirsten Drejer
Chief Executive Officer
Phone: +45-22-10-99-59
E-mail: [email protected]

Martin Olin
Chief Financial Officer
Phone: +45-40-21-85-32
E-mail: [email protected]

Annes Associates
Shari Annes
Phone: +1-650-888-0902
E-mail: [email protected]

Consilium Strategic Communications
Mary-Jane Elliott, Amber Bielecka
Phone: +44-207-920-2354
E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Symphogen