Copenhagen, July 15, 2019 – Orphazyme A/S (ticker: ORPHA.CO), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing treatments for patients living with rare diseases, today announces that the Company’s Board of Directors has appointed Kim Stratton as the new Chief Executive Officer of Orphazyme, succeeding Anders Hinsby. Kim Stratton will take up her new position on October 1, 2019.
As Orphazyme enters a new chapter in its development, from being an entrepreneurial R&D company to a company with significant growth aspirations, an emerging late-stage pipeline and moving into the pre-commercial phase, Anders Hinsby initiated discussions with the Board of Directors to resign from his position as Chief Executive Officer. Anders co-founded Orphazyme ten years ago and has led its successful evolution. Anders Hinsby will remain with the company through the transition period.
Kim is a senior and driven executive with more than 25 years’ global commercial experience from biopharmaceuticals. She brings significant general management experience across multiple geographies, including UK, US, Europe, and emerging markets. Kim joins from Shire Pharmaceuticals, where she served as Head International Commercial for Shire’s Specialty and Rare Diseases portfolio. Before Shire, Kim spent nearly 15 years at Novartis in a number of senior management roles, including global product development, commercial, marketing, general manager, and various global corporate functions, including government and external affairs. Kim possesses a robust grasp of the rare disease space, having, among all, being the Lead for Shire’s rare disease business. Kim is a proven leader who has successfully led and built high-performance teams to deliver sustainable business results. She has successfully led stakeholder and employee engagement. Kim is currently on the Board of the Danish company Novozymes A/S.
Kim Stratton will take up her position as Chief Executive Officer on October 1, 2019.
“I am very pleased to welcome Kim Stratton as the new Chief Executive Officer of Orphazyme. Kim is a proven leader with valuable experience in orphan drug development, a deep understanding of the dynamics of the global commercial landscape and a solid track record in delivering sustainable business results. With these strengths, Kim is well-placed to lead Orphazyme’s transition into a commercial biopharmaceutical company. I look forward, along with the rest of the Board, to supporting Kim in continuing to successfully develop Orphazyme”, said Georges Gemayel, Chairman of Orphazyme.
Georges Gemayel, continued, “Anders Hinsby has been instrumental in successfully building and developing Orphazyme from an early-stage R&D company to now a pre-commercial stage company, which is very well positioned to deliver on its strategy to provide new treatment options to patients suffering from rare and debilitating diseases. The next important phase for the company is to seek approval and prepare for commercial activities for its lead program in Niemann-Pick disease type C. Furthermore, arimoclomol is in late-stage trials for neuromuscular diseases Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and sporadic Inclusion Body Myositis, which could potentially provide the basis for approvals in two additional indications. I would like to thank Anders for his time and important contribution to Orphazyme’s success and wish him all the best in the future.”
Kim Stratton commented, “I am delighted to join Orphazyme at this exciting time in its development. It is a young company, but with great potential. Together with the Board and our dedicated employees, we will continue to build the company and deliver on our mission of bringing innovative therapies to patients with rare, serious diseases and create value for our shareholders.”
Anders Hinsby, Chief Executive Officer of Orphazyme, commented, “As a co-founder of Orphazyme, I am very pleased with the journey of the company. We have translated an academic discovery into a drug development program and moved this forward into clinical trials in four different rare diseases. Now, we are preparing to file for approval of arimoclomol as a therapy for Niemann-Pick disease type C and start the transformation of the company to be able to successfully make arimoclomol available to patients. In Kim, the Board has found a new Chief Executive Officer with experience that perfectly matches this next exciting step and I confidently hand over the reins.”