Polyphor appoints Gökhan Batur as Chief Executive Officer Polyphor
Polyphor AG (SIX: POLN) announced today that Gökhan Batur, currently Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of Polyphor has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective immediately. He will succeed Giacomo DiNepi, who will retire after a long-standing and successful career in the Pharmaceutical industry.
Kuno Sommer, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Polyphor, said: “I am very pleased that with Gökhan we are appointing a new CEO of Polyphor with a broad and international experience in the healthcare industry and an in-depth understanding of Polyphor and our business. Gökhan has joined Polyphor in 2019 with a strong track record in leadership, strategy and execution. Having the opportunity to work with him as a member of the executive committee, we are convinced that he is the right person to lead Polyphor. I would also like to thank Giacomo for his leadership, dedication and great work over the last years, most notably the successful IPO of Polyphor in 2018. I wish him all the best for the future.”
Gökhan Batur has more than 15 years of healthcare industry experience. Before joining Polyphor, he assumed various management roles at MSD, most recently serving as Executive Director, Global Brand Leader, Antibiotics, responsible for leading the entire Merck antibiotics portfolio managing multiple in-line, launch and pipeline products and sales of ~2 billion dollars. He received his BS in Management Information Systems from Bosphorus University, Istanbul.
The Board and Management Team of Polyphor will provide a business update, followed by a Q&A session on February 20, 2020 at 14.00 CET.
About Polyphor
Polyphor is a clinical stage, Swiss biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of immuno-oncology compounds and a new class of antibiotics. Polyphor is advancing balixafortide (POL6326) in a Phase III trial in combination with eribulin in patients with advanced breast cancer, and exploring its potential in other cancer indications. In addition, it has discovered and is developing the Outer Membrane Protein Targeting Antibiotics (OMPTA). OMPTA are potentially the first new class of antibiotics in clinical development in the last 50 years against Gramnegative bacteria. The company’s lead OMPTA program is an inhaled formulation of murepavadin for the treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in patients with cystic fibrosis. Polyphor is based in Allschwil near Basel and is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX: POLN). For more information, please visit www.polyphor.com.
