– USA, MA – Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) today announced the nomination of Dr. Maria Freire, Ph.D., and William Jones for the election to its board of directors at its 2021 AGM, to be held on June 2, 2021.
“Our board believes ensuring diverse perspectives, including a mix of skills, experience and backgrounds, is key to representing the interests of stockholders effectively,” said Board Chairman, Dr. Stelios Papadopoulos.
“I am pleased by the nomination of Maria and William. I look forward to the added fresh perspectives they will provide and working with them to optimize Biogen’s capital allocation for the benefit of all stockholders,” said Dr. Alexander Denner, Chair of the Corporate Governance Committee. “With their nomination, we have taken another important step in the refreshment and diversification of the board.”
“We are excited to announce these nominations for election to Biogen’s board at an important time at Biogen,” said CEO, Michel Vounatsos. “Maria and William have diverse backgrounds spanning medical research, pharmaceuticals, business, not-for-profit boards, and public health. Their breadth of experience will be instrumental in our mission to discover, develop and deliver worldwide innovative therapies for people living with serious neurological and neurodegenerative diseases.”
Additionally, Bob Pangia, who has served on the board since 1997 and is Chair of the Compensation and Management Development Committee, will retire from the board, effective at the AGM.
Dr. Papadopoulos commented, “On behalf of the board of directors and Biogen, I would like to thank Bob Pangia for his long-standing service. His active engagement, expertise, and wise counsel have been invaluable in our efforts to serve the best interests of all of Biogen’s stakeholders. We wish him the best for the future.”
About Dr. Maria Freire
Since November 2012 Dr. Freire has served as President and Executive Director and as a member of the board of directors of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. From March 2008 to November 2012 she served as President and as a member of the board of directors of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, which supports biomedical research. Before this, Dr. Freire served as President and CEO of the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development from 2001 to 2008 and Director of the Office of Technology Transfer at the National Institutes of Health from 1995 to 2001.
Dr. Freire also serves as a director of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc., a publicly held urban office real estate investment trust uniquely focused on collaborative life science and technology campuses, and Exelixis, Inc., a drug discovery and development company. She has served on the boards of numerous national and international organizations, including the Science Board of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the World Health Organization Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health, and the United Nations Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines.
Dr. Freire holds a Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of Virginia and a B.S. from the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru.
About William Jones
Mr. Jones has been the President and CEO and a director of CityLink Investment Corporation, a commercial real estate investment, and development services firm, since 1994. From 2001 through 2018 Mr. Jones was the President, CEO, and director of City Scene Management Company, a real estate management company. From 1989 to 1993 Mr. Jones served as General Manager/Senior Asset Manager and Investment Manager with certain real estate subsidiaries of The Prudential. Previously, he served as a San Diego City Council member and as Deputy Mayor of San Diego.
Mr. Jones is the Lead Independent Director and Corporate Governance Chair for Sempra Energy, an energy infrastructure company. Mr. Jones is a director and, in some cases, Board Chair of certain funds under management by the Capital Group and Capital Group Private Client Services. He is an NACD Board Leadership Fellow. Mr. Jones is a trustee of the University of California San Diego Foundation and its Investment Committee and the Real Estate Advisory Council. Mr. Jones has extensive experience as a real estate developer in San Diego, where he built the City Heights Urban Village, an award-winning redevelopment project.
Mr. Jones earned his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in Economics from the University of San Diego.
About Biogen
At Biogen, our mission is clear: we are pioneers in neuroscience. Biogen discovers, develops, and delivers worldwide innovative therapies for people living with serious neurological and neurodegenerative diseases as well as related therapeutic adjacencies. One of the world’s first global biotechnology companies, Biogen was founded in 1978 by Charles Weissmann, Heinz Schaller, Kenneth Murray, and Nobel Prize winners Walter Gilbert and Phillip Sharp. Today Biogen has the leading portfolio of medicines to treat multiple sclerosis, has introduced the first approved treatment for spinal muscular atrophy, commercializes biosimilars of advanced biologics, and is focused on advancing research programs in multiple sclerosis and neuroimmunology, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, neuromuscular disorders, movement disorders, ophthalmology, neuropsychiatry, immunology, acute neurology, and neuropathic pain.
For more information: https://www.biogen.com/
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