Cambridge, UK and Indianapolis, US – 18 July 2019: Acacia Pharma Group plc (“Acacia Pharma”, the "Company”, the “Group”), (EURONEXT: ACPH), a pharmaceutical company developing and commercialising hospital products for US and international markets, announces that its founder, Dr Julian Gilbert will step down as Chief Executive Officer and as a Director of the Company on 31 July 2019. He will be succeeded by Michael Bolinder, the Group’s Chief Commercial Officer, who will join the Board of the Company at that time.
This change is the result of a succession planning exercise undertaken by the Board over the last year and reflects that the Group’s primary focus will be the commercialisation of BARHEMSYS® in the US market.
Mike Bolinder has worked with Acacia Pharma for the last four years and has extensive knowledge of the post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV) market, and the opportunity BARHEMSYS is expected to address once approved. Moreover, Mike brings significant commercial expertise with more than 17 years of highly relevant experience in the pharmaceutical industry.
Prior to joining Acacia Pharma, Mike was Head of Marketing and Commercial Strategy for the hospital division of Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. He joined Mallinckrodt upon its acquisition of Cadence Pharmaceuticals, Inc. which commercialised Ofirmev®, a post-operative pain control product promoted to anaesthetists and surgical teams. Previously he worked at Eli Lilly and Company for 11 years in various sales and marketing roles of increasing responsibility across multiple therapeutic areas and on several successful product launches. Mike graduated from Florida State University with double majors in International Business and Spanish.
Dr. Patrick Vink, Chairman of Acacia Pharma, said “On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Julian for his vision in creating Acacia Pharma some 12 years ago and his perseverance and skill in identifying the opportunity in PONV. His contributions to discovering and formulating the BARHEMSYS product and the successful clinical programme were of immense value, as was his drive in building the strong patent protection and commercial operations that should ensure the Company can deliver on the significant, long-lasting opportunity for the product once approved. I am delighted to confirm that Julian has agreed to continue to share his knowledge and expertise with the Company for a time to come and we wish him well in the future.”
He added, “The Board is delighted to welcome Mike as Chief Executive Officer and as a Director. He has already made a significant contribution to the Company’s recent progress, particularly in building our high-quality US commercial operations by attracting excellent team members with highly relevant experience. He also played a key role in Acacia’s IPO. Mike’s experience at Mallinckrodt and Lilly will be invaluable as we continue to prepare for the US launch of BARHEMSYS, which is expected early next year.”
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Acacia Pharma Group plc