Oslo, 24 November 2020: Ultimovacs ASA (“Ultimovacs”, ticker ULTIMO), today
announced that Ton Berkien will join Ultimovacs’ management team as Chief
Business Officer (CBO), effective December 1, 2020. Mr. Berkien will join
Ultimovacs from his current position at Amgen as Director Global Business
Development. At Ultimovacs, he will lead all business and corporate development
efforts and continue to maintain and foster connections with leading
biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
“In the last months, Ultimovacs has strengthened its corporate and clinical
development position having launched multiple mid-stage clinical trials and
established a solid financial runway. As the clinical trials continue to
advance, now is the right time to expand our management team and place a greater
focus on our business development efforts,” commented Carlos de Sousa, Chief
Executive Officer at Ultimovacs. “As a biopharmaceutical industry professional
with an extensive international business development background, insights on
corporate financing and years of experience in leading and executing business
transactions, we welcome Ton to Ultimovacs’ management team and are enthusiastic
to collaborate with him and continue to build value for the Company, our
shareholders and patients in need of novel therapeutic options.”
“Over the years, Ultimovacs’ lead therapeutic cancer vaccine program, UV1, has
garnered interest from key opinion leaders, physicians and pharmaceutical
companies based on its encouraging potential in a range of solid tumor cancers,”
stated Ton Berkien, Chief Business Officer at Ultimovacs. “As Ultimovacs moves
towards its next value inflection points, supported by a number of mid-stage
clinical trials, together, we will build on the Company’s well-established
scientific foundation to identify new, strategic opportunities and global
partnerships. I greatly look forward to joining the accomplished management team
and contributing to Ultimovacs’ ongoing growth and success as a biotechnology
company developing novel immunotherapies against cancer.”
Ton Berkien joins Ultimovacs with over 15 years of experience in strategic
business development and corporate finance in the biopharmaceutical industry.
His most recent position was at Amgen as Director Global Business Development –
Transactions, a position he assumed in August 2019 following the acquisition of
Nuevolution, a Danish small molecule development company, at which he led the
commercial and business activities as Chief Business Officer. During his tenure
at Nuevolution, Mr. Berkien contributed to a number of corporate achievements
including supporting the company’s successful listing onto Nasdaq OMX Stockholm,
executing a program out-licensing deal with Almirall as well as drug discovery
collaborations with Janssen Biotech and Amgen. Prior to this, Mr. Berkien was
acting Head of Corporate Development/M&A at Takeda/Nycomed, where he completed
several M&A transactions in the United States, Europe and in various emerging
growth markets such as China, Brazil, India and Colombia. Earlier in his career,
Mr. Berkien also held senior manager positions at PricewaterhouseCoopers,
Rijnconsult, KPMG and Gilde Investment Management.
Mr. Berkien is currently a board member of the Nordic Pharma Licensing Group.
Before starting his career, he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Economics from
the Saxion University of Applied Science in the Netherlands and an LSid from
PwC/Harvard Business School/IMD. Mr. Berkien is a Dutch and Swedish citizen and
is based in Sweden.
About Ultimovacs
Ultimovacs’ UV1 universal cancer vaccine candidate leverages the high prevalence
of the human telomerase (hTERT) to be effective across the dynamic stages of the
tumor’s growth and its microenvironment. By directing the immune system to hTERT
antigens that are present in over 80% of all cancers, UV1 drives CD4 helper T
cells to the tumor with the goal of activating an immune system cascade to
increase anti-tumor responses. Ultimovacs’ strategy is to clinically demonstrate
UV1’s impact in a range of cancers and in several immunotherapy combinations
while expanding our pipeline of cancer vaccine therapies, convinced that a
universal approach may be the key to achieving better outcomes for patients.
For further information, please see www.ultimovacs.com or contact:
Carlos de Sousa, Chief Executive Officer
Email: carlos.desousa@ultimovacs.com
Phone: +47 908 92507
Hans Vassgård Eid, Chief Financial Officer
Email: hans.eid@ultimovacs.com
Phone: +47 482 48632