– USA, MD – Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS) today announced the appointment of independent director Dr. Zsolt Harsanyi (Ph.D.) as Chairman of the board of directors, effective April 1st, 2022.
The company also announced the appointment of Keith Katkin to its board as an independent director. He will also join the nominating and corporate governance and strategic operations committees.
Ronald Richard, Lead Independent Director said, “We are pleased to welcome Keith Katkin to the board. His substantial track record of driving growth for pharmaceutical and life sciences companies will be invaluable to the company’s mission. We are also delighted to appoint Dr. Harsanyi as chairman of the board. His leadership, expertise, and knowledge of Emergent will propel us to the next level of execution on our strategic priorities under the company’s streamlined operating structure.”
About Dr. Zsolt Harsanyi
Dr. Zsolt Harsanyi has served as a director of Emergent BioSolutions since August 2004. Dr. Harsanyi has served as a director of Aptevo Therapeutics Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, since August 2016 and as chairman of the board of N-Gene Research Laboratories, Inc., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company, since March 2011. Before that, Dr. Harsanyi served as chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors of Exponential Biotherapies Inc., a private biotechnology company, from December 2004 to February 2011. Dr. Harsanyi served as a director of Porton International plc, an Anglo-American pharmaceutical and vaccine company, and as president of its U.S. subsidiary from January 1983 to December 2004. The company’s products included the United Kingdom’s anthrax vaccine, botulinum toxin A (Dysport), Erwinase, and HyateC, and a recombinant Factor VIII, which was jointly developed with Genentech and licensed to Bayer as Kogenate. Dr. Harsanyi co-founded Dynport Vaccine Company LLC in September 1996. Before joining Porton International, Dr. Harsanyi was vice president of corporate finance at E.F. Hutton, Inc. Previously, Dr. Harsanyi directed the first assessment of biotechnology for the U.S. Congress’ Office of Technology Assessment, served as a consultant to the President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research, and was on the faculties of Microbiology and Genetics at Cornell University Medical College.
“It is my great honor to be appointed chairman of Emergent’s board. During my time as a director, I have seen the immense efforts of my colleagues and the Emergent management team to ensure that our company is executing its mission to protect and enhance life. I am confident that we will continue our vital mission and proud heritage as the team advances its strategic priorities to strengthen, grow, and diversify our portfolio of specialty products and CDMO services while creating value for our shareholders.” said Dr. Harsanyi.
Dr. Harsanyi received a Ph.D. from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and a B.A. from Amherst College.
About Keith Katkin
Keith Katkin served as the chief executive officer and as a member of the board of directors of Urovant Sciences Ltd, a public biopharmaceutical company, from September 2017 until March 2020. Before Urovant, Mr. Katkin served as the president and chief executive officer of Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly-traded biopharmaceutical company, from 2007 to 2016, where he led the growth and ultimate sale of Avanir to Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for $3.5 billion. Before joining Avanir, Mr. Katkin served as the vice president, of commercial development for Peninsula Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company, playing a key role in the concurrent initial public offering and ultimate sale of the company to Johnson & Johnson. Mr. Katkin currently serves on the boards of Eledon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Syndax Pharmaceuticals, each of which is a publicly-traded company, and as an adviser to the board of directors at Urovant.
“I’m excited to be joining Emergent’s board at this pivotal juncture for the company. Emergent is well-positioned to capitalize on the recent improvements made across the organization and has an exciting, robust pipeline that could help millions of people. I look forward to working with the board to support the company’s growth strategy and objectives for the benefit of all stakeholders,” said Mr. Katkin.
Mr. Katkin has an M.B.A. from the Anderson School at UCLA and a B.S. in Business and Accounting from Indiana University. Mr. Katkin is also a licensed Certified Public Accountant.
About Emergent BioSolutions
At Emergent, our mission is to protect and enhance life. For over 20 years, we’ve been at work defending people from things we hope will never happen—so we are prepared just in case they ever do. We provide solutions for complex and urgent public health threats through a portfolio of vaccines and therapeutics that we develop and manufacture for governments and consumers. We also offer a range of integrated contract development and manufacturing services for pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers.
For more information: https://www.emergentbiosolutions.com/
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