Dublin, Ireland, April 20th 2006
AGI Therapeutics plc announces appointment of Chief Financial Officer.
AGI Therapeutics plc ("AGI" or the "Company"), a speciality pharmaceutical company focused on gastrointestinal drug products, today announces the appointment of Mr. David G. Kelly as director and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Kelly's appointment will be effective as of 2 May 2006.
Mr. Kelly, a Chartered Accountant, was most recently Senior Vice President of Warner Chilcott plc, (formerly Galen Holdings plc), a Northern Ireland based fully integrated specialty pharmaceutical company that was listed on the London and Irish Stock Exchanges. Warner Chilcott was acquired by a syndicate of private equity investors in early 2005 for approximately £1.6 billion. Mr. Kelly also served as acting Chief Financial Officer of Warner Chilcott during its successful IPO on Nasdaq in 1997, prior to Warner Chilcott's acquisition by Galen in 2000. Previous to that, Mr. Kelly worked for Elan Corporation plc and KPMG, the international accounting firm.
Commenting on the appointment of Mr. Kelly, Dr. John Devane, Chief Executive Officer of AGI, said:
"I am delighted to be able to announce the appointment of David Kelly as Chief Financial Officer and director of AGI. At the time of our admission to the AIM and IEX markets we indicated our desire to recruit a permanent Chief Financial Officer and I am pleased that we have now been able to complete the process. The addition of someone of this calibre and wealth of experience to the AGI management team is a major event for the Company. David brings a substantial track record in financial management in both the US and European public markets and we look forward to his playing a leading role in the financial and strategic development of our business."
There are no details that are required to be disclosed under Schedule 2, paragraph (g) of the AIM and IEX Rules.
About AGI Therapeutics
AGI is a speciality pharmaceutical company which is focused on the development and commercialisation of differentiated drug products for gastrointestinal (''GI'') diseases and disorders.
The Company has a portfolio of product candidates derived from the Known Molecular Entity (''KME'') approach to drug re-profiling and development. KME is a re-profiling methodology used by the Company to identify existing therapeutic drugs which typically have been marketed for a number of years, have established safety profiles and can be developed for new clinical indications or with improved profiles in their existing clinical indications. In this way, the Company seeks to reduce the risk, time and cost of new product development as compared to the development of new chemical entities.
AGI has developed a range of product candidates to treat a variety of prevalent GI diseases and disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspepsia, ulcerative colitis and gastro-esophageal reflux disease. The Company is targeting areas of the GI therapeutic drug products market for its product candidates where there are currently unmet medical needs or where the effectiveness of existing drug therapies can be further improved.
The Company has six clinical stage product candidates which are either isomers or new drug delivery formulations of existing approved drugs, and which have established safety and tolerability profiles in their currently approved clinical indications. These product candidates are all in clinical development, including five Phase II trials.
AGI intends to complete its ongoing clinical trials and, dependent on the results of these trials, the Company will initiate Phase III development of a lead product candidate and will also seek to enter into licensing and development agreements with pharmaceutical companies so as to enhance the global market reach for its products and achieve optimal revenue and value opportunities for the Company.
Statements contained within this press release may contain forward-looking comments which involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to vary from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify such forward-looking statements by terminology such as 'may', 'will', 'could', 'forecasts', 'expects', 'plans', 'anticipates', 'believes', 'estimates', 'predicts', 'potential', or 'continue'. Predictions and forward-looking references in this press release are subject to the satisfactory progress of research which is, by nature, unpredictable. Forward projections reflect management's best estimates based on information available at the time of issue.
Contact Information
AGI Therapeutics
David Kelly, Chief Financial Officer
Tel: +353 1 449 3254
Financial Dynamics - UK
Sarah MacLeod
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7831 3113
Financial Dynamics - Ireland
Aisling Garvey
Tel: +353 1 663 3607
For further information please see www.agitherapeutics.com