Full Press Release Details
Announces Appointment of Peter Greenleaf as Chief Executive Officer and
Board Director and the Elevation of Dr. George M. Milne, Jr. to Chairman
effective as of April 29, 2019
Richard M. Glickman to retire from executive and board roles and
remain an advisor to the Company for one year
VICTORIA, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 11, 2019--Aurinia
Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AUPH / TSX: AUP) ("Aurinia" or the
"Company"), a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on
the global immunology market, today announced the appointment of Mr.
Peter Greenleaf as Chief Executive Officer and as a Director on the
Aurinia Board. The Company also announced the elevation of George M.
Milne, Jr., Ph.D. to Chairman of the Board of Directors. Dr. Richard M.
Glickman, who previously announced his plans to retire on November 6,
2018, will step down from his role as Chairman and CEO concurrent with
Mr. Greenleaf's appointment on April 29, 2019, and will remain an
advisor to the Company for a period of 12 months.
With more than twenty years of experience leading pharmaceutical and
biotech firms, Mr. Greenleaf most recently served as the CEO of Cerecor,
a leading U.S. pediatric orphan and rare disease pharmaceutical company.
Prior to that, Mr. Greenleaf was the Chairman and CEO of Sucampo
Pharmaceuticals which he led through the successful sale to Mallinckrodt
Pharmaceuticals, PLC for $1.2B. Previously, Mr. Greenleaf served as the
CEO and Board member of Histogenics, a regenerative medicine company.
Prior to that he was the President of MedImmune, Inc, the global
biologics arm of AstraZeneca, and President of MedImmune Ventures, a
wholly owned venture capital fund within the AstraZeneca Group, where he
led investment in emerging biopharmaceutical, medical device, and
diagnostic companies.
"It is a pleasure to welcome Peter as the next Chief Executive Officer
of Aurinia. As a seasoned leader in the pharmaceutical industry, Peter's
extensive knowledge of clinical and overall operations, along with
business development and commercialization expertise, are ideally
aligned with the next stages of growth for voclosporin and Aurinia,"
stated Dr. George Milne, incoming Chairman of the Board of Aurinia
"The Aurinia team has made extraordinary progress with
voclosporin, which I believe to be a truly transformative drug for the
potential treatment of proteinuric kidney diseases, such as lupus
nephritis ("LN"), as well as a unique opportunity for the treatment of
dry eye syndrome ("DES")," commented Mr. Greenleaf. "To that end, I am
very excited to lead the Company at this pivotal time and through
several critical datapoints over the next year including Phase 3 trial
results by the end of 2019, followed by the planned regulatory
submission and preparations for the potential commercialization of
voclosporin during 2020."
Dr. Milne further commented, "I am also humbled to be assuming the
Chairman role from Dr. Glickman. On behalf of the entire board and
organization, I would like to thank Dr. Glickman for all of his efforts
and contributions that have brought Aurinia to where it is today. As we
wish him all the best on his retirement, we are also gratified to have
his insight as an advisor for the next year."
Dr. Glickman stated, "Consistent with the succession planning set into
motion last November, I am confident that Peter is the correct
individual to lead Aurinia through the next set of value inflection
points including the upcoming AURORA Phase 3 results, preparing for the
potential launch of voclosporin, and expansion of the VOS dry eye
About Mr. Peter Greenleaf
Peter Greenleaf previously served as CEO of Cerecor, Inc., since March
2018. Prior to that he served as Chairman and CEO of Sucampo
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from March 2014 to February 2018, when Sucampo was
sold to Mallinckrodt PLC. Previously, Mr. Greenleaf served as CEO of
Histogenics Corporation from June 2013 to March 2014, as President of
MedImmune, Inc., and MedImmune Ventures from 2010 to June 2013, and
Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations of MedImmune from 2006 to
2010. Mr. Greenleaf also held senior commercial roles at Centocor
Biotech, Inc. (now Janssen Biotechnology, Johnson & Johnson), from 1998
to 2006, and at Boehringer Mannheim G.m.b.H. (now Roche Holdings) from
1996 to 1998. Mr. Greenleaf is a member of the Board of Directors of
Cerecor since May 2017, is the Chairman of the Board of Bio-delivery
Sciences since May 2018, EyeGate Pharmaceuticals since August 2018, and
Antares Pharma since December 2018. Mr. Greenleaf chairs the Maryland
Venture Fund Authority, and previously served on the boards of BIO,
PhARMA, the Tech Council of Maryland and the University of Maryland
Baltimore Foundation, Inc. Mr. Greenleaf earned an MBA degree from St.
Joseph's University and a BS degree from Western Connecticut State
About George M. Milne, Jr., Ph.D.
Dr. Milne was appointed to the Aurinia Board of Directors in May 2017
and serves as Chair of the Company's Governance & Nomination Committee.
Dr. Milne has over 30 years of experience in pharmaceutical research and
product development. He joined Pfizer in 1970 and held a variety of
positions conducting both chemistry and pharmacology research. Dr. Milne
became director of the department of immunology and infectious diseases
at Pfizer in 1981, was its executive director from 1984 to 1985, and was
vice president of research and development from 1985 to 1988. He was
appointed senior vice president in 1988. In 1993 he was appointed
President of Pfizer Central Research and a senior vice president of
Pfizer with global responsibility for human and veterinary medicine
research and development. Dr. Milne has served on multiple corporate
boards including Mettler-Toledo, Inc., MedImmune, Athersys, Biostorage
Technologies, Aspreva, and Conor Medsystems. Dr. Milne received his
B.Sc. in Chemistry from Yale University and his Ph.D. in Organic
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals is a late clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing
therapies to treat targeted patient populations that are impacted by
serious diseases with a high unmet medical need. The Company is
currently developing voclosporin, an investigational drug, for the
potential treatment of LN, Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis ("FSGS"),
and DES. The Company is headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia and
focuses its development efforts globally. For further information, see
our website at http://www.auriniapharma.com.
Voclosporin, an investigational drug, is a