Calliditas strengthens its US Commercial and Medical Affairs Organization

Calliditas Therapeutics AB (publ) (“Calliditas”) today announced the appointment of three industry veterans: Warren Brooks, PhD, as Vice President of US Medical Affairs, Teona Johnson as Head of US Marketing and David Ferraro as Head of US Sales. 

Calliditas Therapeutics has bolstered its US organization with three pharmaceutical veterans as it moves towards the potential commercialization of its lead product candidate, Nefecon.

“This is an important step on our continued path to deliver on our promise to build a center of excellence in the US. This shows our long term commitment to building an organization focused on the commercialization of orphan drugs to address unmet medical needs”, said Renee Aguiar-Lucander, CEO of Calliditas. 

Warren Brooks, PhD, joins Calliditas from Regeneron, where he served as a Senior Director, National Lead in Immunology in Medical Affairs. Warren was one of the first, and key, members in establishing and building the medical affairs organization at Regeneron, working primarily within Immunology and Allergy. Prior to Regeneron, Warren worked at Centocor, Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson, and at AstraZeneca.

Teona Johnson brings over 15 years of marketing experience, including a proven track record of successfully launching and growing brands in the biopharmaceutical industry. She joins Calliditas after spending over 10 years in leadership roles in marketing at Pfizer Inc. Most recently Teona served as the Global Commercial Director, leading the marketing strategy for Ibrance (palbociclib), a $5+ billion oncology brand. While at Pfizer, Teona planned and executed several launches, including in rare indications.

David Ferraro joins Calliditas from Kyowa Kirin, Inc., a global specialty pharmaceutical company, where he served as the National Sales Director for the Oncology / Rare Disease business unit. David most recently led the planning and build out of the sales organization to achieve the successful launch of a specialty product in oncology.  Prior to Kyowa Kirin, David held sales and marketing positions of increasing responsibility at Daiichi Sankyo, Sanofi Aventis and Merck & Company.

“We are very excited to welcome Teona and David to our growing US commercial organization. Both, along with Warren, will play key roles in the further development and execution of our strategy as we expand our US presence,” said Andrew Udell, Head of North America, Commercial. 

For further information, please contact:

Marie Galay, IR Manager, Calliditas

Tel.: +44 79 55 98 12 45, email: marie.galay@calliditas.com

The information was sent for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, on March 8, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. CET.

About Calliditas

Calliditas Therapeutics is a specialty pharmaceutical company based in Stockholm, Sweden focused on identifying, developing and commercializing novel treatments in orphan indications, with an initial focus on renal and hepatic diseases with significant unmet medical needs. Calliditas’ lead product candidate, Nefecon, is a proprietary, novel oral formulation of budesonide, an established, highly potent local immunosuppressant, for the treatment of the autoimmune renal disease IgA nephropathy, or IgAN, for which there is a high unmet medical need and there are no approved treatments. Calliditas is running a global Phase 3 study within IgAN and, if approved, aims to commercialize Nefecon in the United States. Calliditas is also planning to conduct clinical trials with NOX inhibitors in PBC and oncology. Calliditas is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm (ticker: CALTX) and the Nasdaq Global Select Market (ticker: CALT). Visit www.calliditas.com for further information.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including, without limitation, statements regarding Calliditas’ strategy, business plans and focus, such as the potential commercialization of Nefecon and the expansion of our US presence. The words “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “project,” “potential,” “continue,” “target” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and important factors that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, including, without limitation, any related to Calliditas’ business, operations, clinical trials, regulatory interactions, supply chain, strategy, goals and anticipated timelines, competition from other biopharmaceutical companies, and other risks identified in the section entitled “Risk Factors” Calliditas’ reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Calliditas cautions you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. Calliditas disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any such statements to reflect any change in expectations or in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release represent Calliditas’ views only as of the date hereof and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date.