Axovant Strengthens Executive Team with Key Management Appointments

BASEL, Switzerland, June 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Axovant Sciences (NYSE: AXON) today announced that it has made several key senior management hires to strengthen its executive team. Stephen Mohr has joined the Company as general counsel; Eric Floyd, Ph.D., as senior vice president, regulatory affairs; Thomas Templeman, Ph.D., as senior vice president, pharmaceutical operations and quality assurance; Mark Wadley as senior vice president, U.S. business; and Samina Bari as vice president, corporate communications. In addition, the Company appointed current executive team member Shankar Ramaswamy, M.D., to a new role as vice president, global medical affairs.   

"We are delighted to welcome this group of accomplished pharmaceutical and biotech leaders to Axovant," said David Hung, M.D., chief executive officer of Axovant. "Each will play a critical role in the Company's near- and longer-term success as we focus on developing therapies for Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, as well as for other neurological diseases for which new treatments are so desperately needed."

"I look forward to working alongside these impressive leaders," said Marion McCourt, president and chief operating officer. "We are building an executive team of forward thinking industry leaders with proven track records and decades of experience. Known for their flawless execution, these individuals will help take Axovant to our next stage of growth."

New Executive Team Members

Mr. Mohr joins Axovant with over 25 years of experience in pharmaceutical legal and compliance matters. He was previously U.S. General Counsel and Deputy General Counsel, North America at AstraZeneca. Prior to assuming that position, he was Global Compliance Officer for AstraZeneca. He also held a number of senior legal and compliance positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, including Vice President and Senior Counsel, U.S. Medicines. Earlier in his career, he specialized in litigation matters at Weiss David Fross Zelnick & Lehrman, P.C. (now Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu) and Rivkin Leff Sherman & Radler (now Rivkin Radler LLP). Mr. Mohr holds a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Dr. Floyd joins Axovant with nearly 20 years of regulatory experience within the pharmaceutical industry. Most recently, he was president of compliance services and chief scientific officer at Dohmen Life Science Services, Inc. He was SVP, US Regulatory Affairs and Clinical Quality Compliance at Lundbeck Inc., Global Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Hospira, Vice President of Worldwide Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance at Cephalon and VP and Global Head of Respiratory, Dermatology, and Tropical Medicines Drug Regulatory Affairs at Novartis and held senior leadership roles at Bristol Myers Squibb, Aventis and Merck Research Laboratories. Dr. Floyd holds a B.S. from the University of Illinois, an M.S. from Tennessee State University, an M.B.A. from St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia, and a Ph.D. from Meharry Medical College, Nashville.

Dr. Templeman joins Axovant with over 25 years of experience across various aspects of pharmaceutical operations. He most recently served as chief operations officer at Graybug Vision, and was senior vice president of pharmaceutical operations and quality at Medivation prior to that. He previously held positions of increasing responsibility at Hospira, Inc., Liquidia Technologies, and the Johnson & Johnson companies Centocor Biologics and Ortho Clinical Diagnostics. Dr. Templeman holds a B.S. from the University of Santa Clara and a Ph.D. from Dartmouth College.

Mr. Wadley joins Axovant with 24 years of commercial leadership experience across sales, marketing, payer access and commercial operations. Mr. Wadley most recently served as senior vice president of sales at Guardant Health and previously was Vice President Oncology Sales, Organized Customers, and Payer at Medivation. He has also held various roles of increasing responsibility at Amgen, Wyeth BioPharma and Genetics Institute. Mr. Wadley holds a B.S. from Arizona State University.

Ms. Bari joins Axovant with over 25 years of U.S. and global communications experience in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. Most recently, she was vice president of corporate communications at Medivation, and was senior vice president of corporate communications at Pharmacyclics prior to that. She has also held positions of increasing responsibility at Ikaria, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer, in addition to having held senior-level positions at several of the world's leading global communications firms. She began her career at a New York teaching hospital.  Ms. Bari holds a B.A. and M.A. from New York University.

In addition, current executive team member Dr. Shankar Ramaswamy will take on a new role at Axovant as vice president, global medical affairs. Dr. Ramaswamy was one of the earliest employees of Axovant and has served the company in multiple roles, including most recently as vice president, medical and scientific communications. He was also involved in the scientific evaluation of new assets for Axovant. Dr. Ramaswamy holds an A.B. from Harvard University and a M.D. from Brown University. 

Additional New Hires

Mark A. Demitrack, M.D., joins Axovant as vice president, clinical research with over 25 years of academic and industry experience. Most recently, he was vice president and chief medical officer at Neuronetics. He previously held positions of increasing responsibility at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Lilly Research Laboratories, and University of Michigan. Dr. Demitrack holds a B.A. from Columbia University and an M.D. from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Richard O'Neal, R.Ph., joins Axovant as vice president of payer, access and reimbursement with more than 20 years of experience in U.S. payer and reimbursement. Most recently, he was executive director of national accounts at Amgen. He also held positions of increasing responsibility at Express Scripts, Inc. Prior to that, he was a pharmacy manager at Walgreen's Pharmacy. He holds a B.S. from the St. Louis College of Pharmacy and an M.B.A. from Lindenwood University in Missouri.

About Axovant Sciences

Axovant is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative medicines to broadly address multiple forms of dementia and related neurological disorders. Axovant is developing a pipeline of late- and early-stage product candidates that focuses on the cognitive, functional, and behavioral aspects of debilitating conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia and other neurological disorders. For more information, visit www.axovant.com.

Forward-Looking Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding Axovant's clinical development and regulatory strategy for intepirdine and nelotanserin. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the words "believe," "anticipate," "continue," "estimate," "project," "expect," "plan," "potential," "intend," "will," "would," "could," "should" or the negative or plural of these words or other similar expressions that are predictions or indicate future events, trends or prospects.

Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: risks associated with the success, cost and timing of our product development activities and clinical trials; the approval and commercialization of intepirdine and nelotanserin; and increased regulatory requirements. These statements are subject to the risk that clinical trial data are subject to differing interpretations, and regulatory agencies, medical and scientific experts and others may not share Axovant's views of the clinical study data. In addition, promising interim results or other preliminary analyses do not in any way ensure that later or final results in a clinical trial or in related or similar clinical trials will replicate those interim results. The product discussed is investigational and not approved and there can be no assurance that the clinical program for intepirdine or nelotanserin will be successful in demonstrating safety and/or efficacy, that we will not encounter problems or delays in clinical development, or that any of our product candidates will ever receive regulatory approval or be successfully commercialized.

For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to Axovant's business in general, see the "Risk Factors" section of our quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 14, 2017, and other filings that Axovant makes with the SEC from time to time. These forward-looking statements are based on information available to Axovant as of the date of this press release and speak only as of the date of this release. Axovant disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law.

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SOURCE Axovant Sciences