BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PureTech Health plc (LSE: PRTC), today announced that Joichi “Joi” Ito, Ph.D., has stepped down from the board of directors, and current board member, Chris Viehbacher, will act as interim chair. “Given circumstances related to the MIT Media Lab, we agreed that Joi’s resignation from PureTech was appropriate,” said Daphne Zohar, founder and chief executive officer of PureTech. “We are pleased to have Chris Viehbacher as our interim chair.”
Christopher Viehbacher is a member of the PureTech Board and will serve as interim chairman. He is the managing partner of Gurnet Point Capital. Mr. Viehbacher is the former CEO of Sanofi, a Paris listed Fortune 50 Biopharmaceutical Company and the former chairman of Genzyme. Prior to joining Sanofi, Mr. Viehbacher spent 20 years at GlaxoSmithKline, ultimately serving as president of GSK’s North American pharmaceutical division and as a member of the board of directors of GSK plc. He began his career with PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP and qualified as a chartered accountant in Canada. Mr. Viehbacher has co-chaired the CEO Roundtable on Neglected Diseases, an organization that led to over 1.3 billion people being treated for such diseases free of charge. He was the chairman of the board of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) as well as president of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). At the World Economic Forum at Davos, he was a chair of the Health Governors and co-chaired an initiative to create a Global Charter for Healthy Living. He was also a member of the International Business Council. Mr. Viehbacher has received the Pasteur Foundation Award for outstanding commitment to safeguarding and improving health worldwide. He has also received France’s highest civilian honor, the Legion d’Honneur. Various awards form the Thompson Reuters/Excel Investor Survey, including top chief executive officer and top European company, have recognized his commitment to investor relations.
About PureTech Health
PureTech is a clinical stage biotechnology company dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing highly differentiated medicines for devastating diseases, including intractable cancers, lymphatic and gastrointestinal diseases, central nervous system disorders, and inflammatory and immunological diseases, among others. The Company has created a broad and deep pipeline through the expertise of its experienced research and development team and its extensive network of scientists, clinicians and industry leaders. This pipeline, which is being advanced both internally and through PureTech’s affiliates, is comprised of 24 product candidates and one product that has been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). All of the underlying programs and platforms that resulted in this pipeline of product candidates were initially identified or discovered and then advanced by the PureTech team through key validation points based on the Company’s unique insights into the biology of the brain, immune, and gut, or BIG, systems and the interface between those systems, referred to as the BIG Axis.
For more information, visit www.puretechhealth.com or connect with us on Twitter @puretechh.
Forward Looking Statement
This press release contains statements that are or may be forward-looking statements, including statements that relate to the company's future prospects, developments, and strategies. The forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance and achievements to differ materially from current expectations, including, but not limited to, those risks and uncertainties described in the risk factors included in the regulatory filings for PureTech Health plc. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions regarding the present and future business strategies of the company and the environment in which it will operate in the future. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as at the date of this press release. Except as required by law and regulatory requirements, neither the company nor any other party intends to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014.
