On March 20, 2018 Alder BioPharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALDR), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of migraine, reported that Paul B. Cleveland, a member of the Company’s Board of Directors, has been appointed to serve as Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Mr. Cleveland will continue to serve as a director of the Company (Press release, , 20 20, 2018, View Source [SID1234524905]).
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
Mr. Cleveland’s appointment follows the mutual determination by Randall C. Schatzman and the Board that now is the right time for Dr. Schatzman to step down as President, Chief Executive Officer and as a director. Dr. Schatzman has agreed to serve as a consultant to the Company for an interim period in order to help ensure a smooth transition. Alder has retained Russell Reynolds Associates, a leading executive search firm, to assist with identifying a permanent successor.
Mr. Cleveland has more than two decades of leadership experience with significant operational and financial expertise. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Adverum Biotechnologies, Inc., where he previously served as the President and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to that, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Celladon Corporation, where he previously served as that company’s Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Cleveland served as Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Chief Financial Officer at Aragon Pharmaceuticals before its acquisition by Johnson & Johnson, and prior to Aragon, he was General Partner and Chief Operating Officer at Mohr Davidow Ventures and Executive Vice President, Corporate Development and Chief Financial Officer for Affymax. Mr. Cleveland was previously a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan Chase and Co. and a predecessor firm, Hambrecht & Quist, and a corporate lawyer at Cooley LLP, Sidley Austin LLP, and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.
"I joined the Alder Board in 2015 because of my deep appreciation of Alder’s mission to transform the treatment paradigm for migraine prevention," said Mr. Cleveland. "I look forward to leveraging my prior CEO and CFO experience in this interim role as we work to identify a permanent successor and further build out the team for the next stage of Alder’s growth and development. On behalf of the Board and the Alder team, I want to thank Randy for his immense dedication and invaluable contributions since co-founding the Company in 2004. Randy’s leadership has positioned Alder for continued growth as we advance towards the commercial launch of eptinezumab."
Dr. Schatzman said, "It has been an honor to lead Alder since co-founding the Company in 2004 and work with such a bright and passionate group of employees to change the lives of highly impacted episodic and chronic migraine patients. I am proud of all that we have accomplished at Alder during my tenure including the development of two late-stage therapeutic candidates, eptinezumab and clazakizumab, assembling a talented team of over 190 employees, the majority of which are scientists and drug developers, and positioning Alder to positively impact the lives of migraine sufferers. Now is the right time to pass the baton to the next generation of leadership. I am confident that Alder is well-placed to set a new standard for what can be achieved in migraine prevention to benefit patients and their families."
Mr. Cleveland concluded, "Alder has made tremendous progress over the last year. We achieved positive Phase 3 pivotal data for both episodic and chronic migraine patients, demonstrating that eptinezumab’s clinical profile is highly differentiated and consistently delivered predictable results for rapid, effective and sustained migraine prevention across the spectrum of migraine disease. We plan to share additional data from our PROMISE 1 and PROMISE 2 pivotal trials, and the results from our open-label safety study of eptinezumab, in the first half of this year. We also continue to expect our pharmacokinetic comparability study to be completed in the second half of 2018. In addition, through our recent IP settlement and licensing agreement with Teva, we now have a non-exclusive license to Teva’s CGRP patent portfolio, which, importantly, clarified our ability to develop, manufacture and commercialize eptinezumab in the U.S. and globally. The submission of our planned Biologics License Application (BLA) for eptinezumab is the top priority, and we continue to make progress on all key clinical data milestones, BLA and commercial preparedness activities, including our CMC and manufacturing initiatives. I look forward to reviewing these programs thoroughly in my new role and plan to provide a business update in connection with the announcement of our first quarter 2018 financial and operating results."
As of February 28, 2018, Alder had cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments and restricted cash totaling more than $600 million.