Pevion Appoints Didier Hoch, Former President of Sanofi Pasteur MSD, as Chairman of the Board

ITTIGEN, Switzerland and BERN, Switzerland, February 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Pevion Biotech Ltd. today announced the appointment of Didier Hoch as Chairman of its Board of Directors. Until recently, Dr Hoch was President of Sanofi-Pasteur MSD, where he played a pivotal role in launching innovative vaccines, such as Gardasil(R), in Europe.

Prior to his position as President of Sanofi-Pasteur MSD from 2000 until 2010, Didier Hoch was Vice President Africa & Middle East at Aventis Pharma International, and before that he was Deputy General Manager at Rhône-Poulenc Rorer France. From 2003 until 2009 Dr Hoch was President of the European Vaccine Manufacturers Association (EVM) and was Vice-President in 2002 and in 2010. Furthermore, he is President of the Biotechnology Committee of LEEM (the French pharma industry association) and President of the Life Science Health Committee of MEDEF (the French global industry association). He graduated in Medicine from the University of Lyon, France.

"I eagerly look forward to helping Pevion's team build on the successes it has achieved to date," Didier Hoch said following his election to become Chairman of Pevion. "Innovation is clearly what the vaccine industry currently needs. Through its proprietary and partnered programs, Pevion is a pioneer in the field of mucosal vaccines with its clinical stage, first-in-class vaccines against candidiasis and HIV, respectively. Furthermore, Pevion has novel vaccine approaches in clinical development to address diseases with clear unmet medical needs."

"We welcome Didier Hoch to his new position as Chairman and look forward to working with him," said Evert Kueppers, CEO of Pevion. "I am convinced that Didier's in-depth expertise in developing and launching innovative vaccines, such as Gardasil(R), will give us important input and added value for the further in-house development of our clinical stage Candida vaccine, for which we could recently announce excellent Phase I interim data."

Pevion also announced that its shareholders have appointed Daniel Richner, BZ Bank, as new member of the Board, replacing Dr Joseph Manko. Dr Richner has been working in the financial industry for 24 years, among others for the Lombard Odier Immunology Fund and HBM Bioventures. He joined BZ Fund Management in 2010, where he coordinates investments in the life sciences.

About Pevion Biotech Ltd.

Pevion Biotech Ltd. is an independent Swiss vaccine company that develops innovative vaccines for unmet medical needs based on its clinically and commercially validated virosome technology. Its proprietary clinical pipeline includes a first-in-class candidiasis vaccine. A clinical stage malaria vaccine candidate has been successfully outlicensed, and the Company's technology has been licensed for use as an HIV vaccine currently in human trials. Pevion has in-house development capability and expertise, including a state-of-the-art and industrially scalable GMP manufacturing process. Located near Bern, Pevion was founded in 2002 as an industrial spin-off of Bachem AG (SWX: BANB) and Berna Biotech, now Crucell, (SWX: CRX), and raised a total of CHF 45 million to date from its founders and investors, BZ Bank, Core Capital Partners and BB Biotech Ventures.

About Virosomes

Virosomes are the only regulatory and market-approved vaccine technology to fulfill carrier and adjuvant functions in one. Essentially, virosomes represent reconstituted empty influenza virus envelopes, devoid of the genetic material of the source virus. As such, virosomes do not replicate and are therefore an ideal combination of carrier plus adjuvant for almost any given antigen, including peptide or protein derived antigens. The technology allows the surface display and delivery of difficult antigens and thereby provides access to new indications and markets. Two virosome-based vaccines (Epaxal(R) and Inflexal(R) V, marketed by Crucell Switzerland AG) are licensed in over 40 countries, and more than 70 million doses of these vaccines have been commercially distributed, thereby providing a solid safety and efficacy track record.

    
    Pevion Biotech Ltd.
    Worblentalstrasse 32
    CH - 3063 Ittigen
    Switzerland

    http://www.pevion.com

    For further information, please contact:

    Evert Kueppers, CEO
    Phone: +41-31-550-44-44
    info@pevion.com