DANBURY, Conn., June 24, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Penwest Pharmaceuticals Co. (Nasdaq:PPCO) today announced that IVS Associates, Inc., the independent inspector of election for the Company's Annual Meeting of Shareholders, held on June 10, 2009, has certified the results of the meeting.
The certified results confirmed that Penwest shareholders voted to elect Joseph Edelman and Kevin C. Tang as directors.
The certified results also confirmed that Penwest shareholders have approved the non-binding advisory proposal requesting that the Board wind down the Company's operations. This proposal will be considered by the entire Board, including the two new Board members, at future meetings.
Finally, the certified results confirmed that the two bylaw amendment proposals, requiring supermajority Board approval for certain actions and setting April 30th as the date for all future annual meetings, were not approved.
Jennifer Good, President and Chief Executive Officer of Penwest, said, "We welcome Mr. Edelman and Mr. Tang to the Board. We have already met with both of them and look forward to working with them in our efforts to continue to build value for our shareholders."
Mr. Tang commented, "Joe and I greatly appreciate the support of our fellow shareholders. We look forward to working with the rest of the Board members to maximize value for all shareholders."
About Penwest Pharmaceuticals
Penwest is a drug development company focused on identifying and developing products that address unmet medical needs, primarily for rare disorders of the nervous system. Penwest is currently developing A0001, a coenzyme Q analog drug candidate for inherited mitochondrial respiratory chain diseases. Penwest is also applying its drug delivery technologies and drug formulation expertise to the formulation of product candidates under licensing collaborations with partners.
Penwest Forward-Looking Statements
The matters discussed herein contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause the actual results in future periods to be materially different from any future performance suggested herein. For this purpose, any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, the words, "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "intends," "potential," "appears," "estimates," "projects," "targets," "may," "could," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause results to differ materially include: risks relating to the commercial success of Opana ER, including our reliance on Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. for the commercial success of Opana ER and risks of generic competition; the need for capital; regulatory risks relating to drugs in development, including the timing and outcome of regulatory submissions and regulatory actions; uncertainty of success of collaborations; the timing of clinical trials; whether the results of clinical trials will warrant further clinical trials, warrant submission of an application for regulatory approval of, or warrant the regulatory approval of, the product that is the subject of the trial; whether the patents and patent applications owned by us will protect the Company's products and technology; actual and potential competition; and other risks as set forth under the caption Risk Factors in Penwest's Annual Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 11, 2009, which risk factors are incorporated herein by reference.
The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date of the statements made. Penwest disclaims any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements, and these statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's estimates or views as of any date subsequent to the date of this release.
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