Basel, Switzerland, April 18, 2017 - Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. (SIX: BSLN) reported that shareholders approved all proposals of the Board of Directors at today's Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) for the financial year 2017.
The shareholders approved the annual report, the financial statements, and consolidated financial statements for the financial year 2017, and approved the discharge of the members of Basilea's Board of Directors and Management Committee. Shareholders also approved carrying forward the accumulated deficit, and re-elected PricewaterhouseCoopers AG, Basel, as auditors.
The shareholders re-elected Domenico Scala as Chairman and Dr. Martin Nicklasson, Dr. Nicole Onetto, Steven D. Skolsky and Dr. Thomas Werner as members of Basilea's Board of Directors. The shareholders also elected retiring CEO, Ronald Scott, as a member of the Board of Directors. In addition, Dr. Nicklasson, Mr. Skolsky and Dr. Werner were re-elected as members of the Compensation Committee and Dr. Caroline Cron was re-elected as Independent Proxy. The terms of all these individuals last until the end of the AGM 2019.
"I am delighted that Ron Scott has been elected as a member of the Board of Directors," said Domenico Scala, Chairman of the Board of Directors. "We are convinced that his strategic thinking and detailed knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry and capital markets will be of tremendous value to support Basilea in its continued growth." He added: "As Ron Scott is retiring from his role as CEO, the Board would also like to thank him for his significant contributions to the success of Basilea since the founding of the company and welcomes David Veitch in his new position as CEO."
The shareholders approved the extension of the authorization to increase the share capital by one additional year to April 2020. They also approved to amend the Articles of Association in order to clarify that the preferential subscription rights of the existing shareholders may not be excluded in case of a public takeover offer.
Finally, the shareholders approved the proposed maximum aggregate amount of the compensation for the Board of Directors for the period until the AGM 2019, the maximum aggregate amount of fixed compensation for the Management Committee for the period of July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019, and the maximum aggregate amount of variable compensation for the Management Committee for the period from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018. In a non-binding advisory vote, the shareholders also endorsed the aggregate amount of the Management Committee's variable compensation for the financial year 2017.
Ronald Scott in his presentation to the shareholders stated that 2017 marked a successful year in the implementation of Basilea's strategy to maximize the value of its commercialized drugs, the antifungal Cresemba (isavuconazole) and the antibiotic Zevtera (ceftobiprole). He highlighted the partnerships with several leading pharmaceutical companies which cover more than 100 countries worldwide, including Pfizer for Cresemba in Europe. Basilea received CHF 79 million in upfront payments in 2017 and is eligible for up to USD 1.1 billion in total milestone payments from transactions completed during the year. He also updated shareholders on the progress achieved in the clinical development programs in anti-infectives and oncology, such as the start of the phase 3 program with the goal to gain regulatory approval for ceftobiprole in the U.S. He concluded that at the end of his tenure, the company is well-established with two products on the market, a global network of partners and a sound financial position as the basis to support sustainable company growth and value creation in the coming years.
CEO designate David Veitch added: "Early 2018 already saw a number of additional product launches. The antifungal Cresemba was launched in Switzerland and our antibiotic Zevtera in Argentina and Canada. We expect further launches this year, which will lead to increasing revenue contributions from our partnerships for our two key anti-infectives products. In addition, we look forward to further advancing the clinical programs with our existing projects and are actively working towards extending our pipeline in our focus areas of anti-infectives and oncology, which could come from both internal innovation as well as from selectively in-licensing appropriate assets into our pipeline".
At the meeting, 26.7 percent of the total voting rights were represented. Currently, 60.5 percent of the total issued shares are registered in Basilea's share registry.
About Basilea
Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. is a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company developing products that address the medical challenge of increasing resistance and non-response to current treatment options in the therapeutic areas of bacterial infections, fungal infections and cancer. With two commercialized drugs, the company is committed to discovering, developing and commercializing innovative pharmaceutical products to meet the medical needs of patients with serious and life-threatening conditions. Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX: BSLN). Additional information can be found at Basilea's website www.basilea.com.
Disclaimer
This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
For further information, please contact:
| Peer Nils Schröder, PhD Head of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations +41 61 606 1102 media_relations@basilea.com investor_relations@basilea.com |
This press release can be downloaded from www.basilea.com.
