ROCKVILLE, MD., June 23, 2009 /PRNewswire/ -- MacroGenics, Inc. announced today that Mr. Paulo F. Costa has been elected to the company’s Board as an independent director. Mr. Costa is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Novartis U.S. Corporation. With more than 35 years of experience in operations and commercialization in the pharmaceutical industry, Mr. Costa brings valuable expertise to the MacroGenics Board.
“We are privileged to have Mr. Costa join MacroGenics’ Board of Directors. As an established leader in the pharmaceutical industry, Mr. Costa has the ideal background to work with the management team at MacroGenics as the company matures toward commercializing its pipeline of product candidates. His proven skills in operations and commercialization will be a tremendous asset to MacroGenics,” commented Scott Koenig, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO.
“I am excited to have the opportunity to work closely with such a talented management team and respected group of investors and directors at MacroGenics,” said Mr. Costa. “I was drawn to the company’s impressive range of fully-integrated capabilities for the development of biologics. I believe that MacroGenics has one of the best monoclonal antibody therapeutics programs, including a rich pipeline of product candidates and differentiated technology platforms.”
In addition to President and Chief Executive Officer of Novartis U.S. Corporation, Mr. Costa held a number of other roles at Novartis, including Head of the Americas, and President and Chief Executive Officer of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Novartis' largest pharmaceutical business. He was responsible for the entire General Medicine business in North and Latin America. And under Mr. Costa’s leadership, the pharmaceutical business achieved compounded annual double-digit growth and gained substantial market share. Prior to joining Novartis, Mr. Costa worked at Johnson & Johnson for 30 years, where he served as President of Janssen Pharmaceutica, Executive Vice President, Global Franchise Development, and was a member of Johnson & Johnson's Group Operating Committee. Mr. Costa has held various sales and marketing positions and has more than 20 years of general management experience, having launched over 10 pharmaceutical products in various therapeutic areas in the U.S. market. Mr. Costa earned his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and is a graduate of the Sao Paulo School of Business Administration. Mr. Costa recently joined the Board of Directors of Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
One current director, John Maraganore, Ph.D., has retired from the Board of Directors of MacroGenics. “We greatly appreciate John’s dedicated service and contribution to building and growing the company over the past three years,” commented Scott Koenig.
About MacroGenics, Inc.
MacroGenics is a private, venture-backed biotechnology company that focuses on the discovery, development and delivery to patients of novel biologics for autoimmune disorders, cancer and infectious diseases. Since its founding in 2000, the company has built a fully-integrated set of capabilities in monoclonal antibody product development. The company’s product development efforts leverage three proprietary technology platforms: (1) cancer stem-like cells; (2) Dual Affinity Re-Targeting (DART), which allows the company to incorporate multiple specificities within a single molecule; and (3) Fc optimization, which enhances antibody-dependent effector functions. These powerful sets of capabilities and technology platforms have enabled MacroGenics to build a proprietary pipeline of innovative product candidates. The company’s lead program, teplizumab, is an anti-CD3 antibody being developed for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. In October 2007, MacroGenics and Eli Lilly announced a global strategic alliance to develop and commercialize teplizumab as well as other potential next-generation anti-CD3 molecules. For more information about MacroGenics, please visit www.macrogenics.com.
Statements made in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "expects," "believes," "intends," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statement. Specifically, there are a number of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, such as the Company’s ability to raise additional capital, and risks related to the Company’s ability to initiate, and enroll patients in, planned clinical trials. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or developments, except as required by law.
Contacts:
Scott Koenig, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO
or Jim Karrels, Vice President, CFO
both of MacroGenics, Inc., +1-301-251-5172, info@macrogenics.com