Pharming Reports on Annual General Meeting of Shareholders Pharming's Board of Supervisory Directors Announce Paul Sekhri as New Chairman

LEIDEN, The Netherlands, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Pharming Group N.V. ("Pharming" or "the Company") (Euronext Amsterdam: PHARM) announces announces that at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) of shareholders, held today, all proposals were approved.

In addition, the Board of Supervisory Directors (BOSD)announced that Paul Sekhri is succeeding Jaap Blaak, who is stepping down after eight years as Chairman of the BOSD. Mr. Blaak will continue to serve on the BOSD.

Mr Sekhri joined the BOSD at last years' AGM. He has 30 years of operational experience in life sciences with in-depth knowledge of multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology markets and products. Mr. Sekhri is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of Lycera Corp., a biopharmaceutical company developing breakthrough medicines to treat cancer and autoimmune disease. Prior to joining Lycera, Mr. Sekhri was Senior Vice President, Integrated Care at Sanofi, where he led the creation of innovative solutions and business models to meet patient needs. Previously, he has served as Group Executive Vice President, Global Business Development and Chief Strategy Officer at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Mr. Sekhri has held positions in small biopharmaceutical companies, large and small pharmaceutical companies, and venture capital/private equity firms, including, Cerimon Pharmaceuticals, Novartis AG, Ariad Pharmaceuticals and TPG Biotech. Mr. Sekhri completed postgraduate studies in clinical anatomy and neuroscience at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine and received his BSc degree from the University of Maryland. In addition to his board position with Lycera, he currently serves on other public and private boards including Enumeral Holdings, Inc., Nivalis Therapeutics, Inc., and Veeva Systems, Inc. as well as several non-profit boards including Caramoor Music and Arts Center, Young Concert Artists, Inc., the TB Alliance and the Cancer Research Institute, and he is a member of the Patrons Council of Carnegie Hall where he served as a member of the Board of Trustees from 2010-2012.

Sijmen de Vries, Pharming's CEO commented; "We are delighted that Paul has agreed to become Chairman of the BOSD at this exciting time in Pharming's development. His extensive industry experience and network will be important assets to support the growth trajectory ahead of us. Jaap has been Chairman of the BOSD and has performed an excellent job, during a very difficult time for Pharming, and all of us at the Company feel grateful for his wisdom, support, tenacity and leadership during his tenure as Chairman over the last eight years; an exciting period, one with many serious challenges that have been overcome."

The presentation slides from today's AGM are available on the Company's website.

About Pharming Group N.V. 

Pharming is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing innovative products for the safe, effective treatment of rare diseases and unmet medical needs. Pharming's lead product, RUCONEST® (conestat alfa) is a recombinant human C1 esterase inhibitor approved for the treatment of acute Hereditary Angioedema ("HAE") attacks in patients in Europe, the US and rest of the world. The product is available on a named-patient basis in other territories where it has not yet obtained marketing authorization.

RUCONEST® is commercialized by Pharming in Austria, Germany and The Netherlands.

RUCONEST® is distributed by Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (publ) (SS: SOBI) in the other EU countries, and in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Norway, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine.

RUCONEST® is distributed in North America, Canada and Mexico by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (NYSE: VRX/TSX: VRX), following Valeant's acquisition of Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd.

RUCONEST® is distributed in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Panama and Venezuela, by Cytobioteck.

RUCONEST® is distributed in South Korea by HyupJin Corporation and in Israel by Megapharm.

RUCONEST® is being investigated in a Phase II randomized, double blind placebo-controlled clinical trial for prophylactic treatment of HAE and is being evaluated for other indications as well. The Phase II study was fully recruited shortly after the year-end.

RUCONEST® is also being investigated in a Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of HAE in young children (2-13 years of age) and evaluated for various additional follow-on indications.

Pharming's technology platform includes a unique, GMP-compliant, validated process for the production of pure recombinant human proteins that has proven capable of producing industrial quantities of high quality recombinant human proteins in a more economical and less immunogenetic way compared with current cell-line based methods. Leads for enzyme replacement therapy ("ERT") for Pompe and Fabry's diseases are being optimized at present, with additional programs not involving ERT also at an early stage of development.

Pharming has a long term partnership with the Shanghai Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry ("SIPI"), a Sinopharm company, for joint global development of new products, starting with recombinant human Factor VIII for the treatment of Haemophilia A. Pre-clinical development and manufacturing will take place to global standards at SIPI and are funded by SIPI. Clinical development will be shared between the partners with each partner taking the costs for their territories under the partnership.

Pharming has declared that the Netherlands is its "Home Member State" pursuant to the amended article 5:25a paragraph 2 of the Dutch Financial Supervision Act.

Additional information is available on the Pharming website: http://www.pharming.com

Forward-looking statements 

This press release of Pharming Group N.V. and its subsidiaries ("Pharming", the "Company" or the "Group") may contain forward-looking statements including without limitation those regarding Pharming's financial projections, market expectations, developments, partnerships, plans, strategies and capital expenditures. 

The Company cautions that such forward-looking statements may involve certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ. Risks and uncertainties include without limitation the effect of competitive, political and economic factors, legal claims, the Company's ability to protect intellectual property, fluctuations in exchange and interest rates, changes in taxation laws or rates, changes in legislation or accountancy practices and the Company's ability to identify, develop and successfully commercialise new products, markets or technologies. 

As a result, the Company's actual performance, position and financial results and statements may differ materially from the plans, goals and expectations set forth in such forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or information, which should be taken as of their respective dates of issue, unless required by laws or regulations. 

Contact
Sijmen de Vries, CEO: T: +31-71-524-7400

FTI Consulting
Julia Phillips/ Victoria Foster Mitchell, T: +44-203-727-1136