Targovax strengthens management team with the appointment of Torbjørn Furuseth as CFO; Erik Digman Wiklund to become CBO
Oslo, 13 September 2018: Targovax ASA (“Targovax” or “the Company”; OSE: TRVX), a clinical stage biotechnology company developing immune activators to target hard to treat solid tumors, announces the appointment of Dr. Torbjørn Furuseth as CFO, effective 24 September 2018. Dr. Erik Digman Wiklund, currently Targovax’s CFO, will become Chief Business Officer, replacing Michael Bogenstaetter.
Torbjørn joins from the clinical stage pharmaceutical company Lytix Biopharma, where he has served as CFO since February 2017, developing an integrated financing strategy and raising NOK 150 million in private rounds. Prior to this, he was EVP Innovation at nutraceutical company, Aker BioMarine, where he established and led the innovation department. Torbjørn brings six years’ experience as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co, where he served several pharma and healthcare clients, including the merger of three pharmaceutical companies with operations in 20 European countries.
Erik was appointed CFO of Targovax in April 2017, and led the NOK 200 million private placement in June 2017. He already plays an integral role in the Company’s strategic operations and business development activities. By transitioning Erik into the CBO role, Targovax will be better able to leverage his strong scientific background in cancer research.
“We are delighted to announce the appointment of Torbjørn Furuseth as our new CFO. He brings a wealth of financial and industry experience, which will be instrumental in progressing Targovax’s investor relations and strategy,” said Øystein Soug, CEO of Targovax. “At the same time, Erik Digman Wiklund moves from being CFO to become Chief Business Officer, with responsibility for all our business development activities. Over the past 18 months, Erik has become a highly valued member of the Targovax team, and his deep insights in both the scientific and business aspects of biotech equips him to be a very effective CBO. Erik and Torbjørn have previously worked together both at McKinsey & Co and Aker Biomarine, I therefore look forward to harnessing their strong working relationship and driving Targovax forward as we continue to advance our immuno-oncology pipeline through clinical development.”
For further information, please contact:
Renate Birkeli, Investor Relations
Phone: +47 922 61 624
Email: renate.birkeli@targovax.com
Media and IR enquires:
Andreas Tinglum - Corporate Communications (Norway)
Phone: +47 9300 1773
Email: andreas.tinglum@corpcom.no
Simon Conway/Stephanie Cuthbert - FTI Consulting (International)
Phone: +44 20 3727 1000
Email: Targovax@fticonsulting.com
About Targovax
Activating the patient's immune system to fight cance
Targovax (OSE:TRVX) is a clinical stage biotechnology company developing immune activators to target hard to treat solid tumors. Immuno-oncology is currently one of the fastest growing therapeutic fields in medicine.
Targovax’s lead product candidate, ONCOS-102, is a genetically modified oncolytic adenovirus, which has been engineered to selectively infect and replicate in cancer cells. It is used as a therapeutic cancer vaccine and has been shown to activate the immune system to generate tumor-specific immune responses. In phase I trials, ONCOS-102 induced both local and systemic innate and adaptive immune activation, which has been associated with clinical benefit. ONCOS-102’s lead indication is mesothelioma, where the virus is currently being tested in a randomized phase II trial, with a phase Ib safety lead-in cohort. Another trial, in advanced melanoma, is expected to produce important proof of concept data for checkpoint inhibitor refractory patients within the next 6-12 months.
Targovax is also developing a neo-antigen cancer vaccine targeting tumors that express mutated forms of RAS - mutations known to drive cancer. The TG vaccine program has shown a signal of efficacy in a 32-patient trial with TG01 in resected pancreatic cancer. A next generation product candidate, TG02 is currently tested as monotherapy and will also be tested in combination with Keytruda® (an anti-PD1 Check point inhibitor, CPI).
