CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--POZEN Inc. (“POZEN”) (NASDAQ:POZN), a pharmaceutical company committed to developing medicine that transforms lives, today announced that Scott Charles will be appointed Senior Vice President of Finance of POZEN, effective July 27th, with the intention of becoming Chief Financial Officer of Aralez Pharmaceuticals plc. upon completion of the pending merger of POZEN with Tribute Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc. Mr. Charles will report to Adrian Adams, Chief Executive Officer of POZEN, and will be responsible for all financial activities related to the integration of Tribute Pharmaceuticals upon its anticipated merger with POZEN and with respect to the implementation of all systems necessary for the planned transformation of POZEN and ultimately Aralez Pharmaceuticals into a commercial specialty pharmaceuticals company. He will also play a critical role on the leadership team.
“Scott is an accomplished pharmaceutical executive who brings great depth of experience to POZEN, and we are delighted to have him as a member of the leadership team,” said Adrian Adams, Chief Executive Officer of POZEN. “We look forward to his contributions as we execute our transformational strategy to accelerate growth and deliver shareholder value by combining with Tribute to create Aralez Pharmaceuticals.”
About Scott Charles
Mr. Charles has over 19 years of experience with a record of accomplishment across a spectrum of financial operations in public and private environments. He most recently served as the Vice President of Finance and Treasurer at Ikaria, Inc., a critical care pharmaceutical company based in Hampton, New Jersey with annual revenues in excess of $400 million. Mr. Charles played a lead role in the spin-off of Ikaria’s R&D operations and sale of its commercial business to a private equity firm in 2014 for $1.6B and then to Mallinckrodt in April 2015 for $2.3B. Mr. Charles also successfully helped raise over $3B through numerous capital market transactions. While at Ikaria, Mr. Charles had the opportunity to lead all of the finance functions. Prior to that, Mr. Charles held several senior finance roles of increasing responsibility, culminating as the Vice President of Finance and Treasurer at Reliant Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Mr. Charles played an integral role in the company’s M&A process that resulted in the successful sale of Reliant to GlaxoSmithKline for $1.6B in 2007. He was also instrumental in closing several business development transactions, including the acquisition of Lovaza, a product that grew to over $1B in annual revenues. Prior to that he was a Manager of Assurance and Business Advisory Services at Arthur Andersen, LLP. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Bucknell University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
About POZEN
POZEN Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company that to date has historically focused on developing novel therapeutics for unmet medical needs and licensing those products to other pharmaceutical companies for commercialization. By utilizing a unique in-source model and focusing on integrated therapies, POZEN has successfully developed and obtained FDA approval of two self-invented products. Funded by these milestones/royalty streams, POZEN has created a portfolio of cost-effective, evidence-based integrated aspirin therapies designed to enable the full power of aspirin by reducing its GI damage.
POZEN’s common stock is traded under the symbol “POZN” on The NASDAQ Global Market. For more detailed company information, including copies of this and other press releases, please visit www.POZEN.com.
Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This press release contains forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws, including, but not limited to, statements related to the anticipated consummation of the business combination transaction among Aralez, POZEN and Tribute and the timing and benefits thereof, the anticipated equity and debt financings and the closings thereof, the combined company's strategy, plans, objectives, expectations (financial or otherwise) and intentions, future financial results and growth potential, anticipated product portfolio, development programs and management structure, the proposed listing on the NASDAQ and TSX and other statements that are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements are based on POZEN's current assumptions and expectations and inherently involve significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, risks related to the parties ability to complete the combination and financings on the proposed terms and schedule; the parties ability to close the capital investment on the proposed terms and schedule; the combined company meeting the listing on the NASDAQ and TSX; risk that Aralez may be taxed as a U.S. resident corporation; risks associated with business combination transactions, such as the risk that the businesses will not be integrated successfully, that such integration may be more difficult, time-consuming or costly than expected or that the expected benefits of the transaction will not occur; risks related to future opportunities and plans for the combined company, including uncertainty of the expected financial performance and results of the combined company following completion of the proposed transaction; disruption from the proposed transaction, making it more difficult to conduct business as usual or maintain relationships with customers, employees or suppliers; the calculations of, and factors that may impact the calculations of, the acquisition price in connection with the proposed merger and the allocation of such acquisition price to the net assets acquired in accordance with applicable accounting rules and methodologies; and the possibility that if the combined company does not achieve the perceived benefits of the proposed transaction as rapidly or to the extent anticipated by financial analysts or investors, the market price of the combined company's shares could decline, as well as other risks related to POZEN's and Tribute’s business, including POZEN's inability to build, acquire or contract with a sales force of sufficient scale for the commercialization of YOSPRALA™ in a timely and cost-effective manner, the parties’ failure to successfully commercialize our product candidates; costs and delays in the development and/or FDA approval of our product candidates (including YOSPRALA™), including as a result of the need to conduct additional studies or due to issues with third-party manufacturers, or the failure to obtain such approval of POZEN’s product candidates for all expected indications, including as a result of changes in regulatory standards or the regulatory environment during the development period of any of its product candidates; the inability to maintain or enter into, and the risks resulting from POZEN’s dependence upon, collaboration or contractual arrangements necessary for the development, manufacture, commercialization, marketing, sales and distribution of any products, including its dependence on AstraZeneca and Horizon for the sales and marketing of VIMOVO®, POZEN’s dependence on Patheon for the manufacture of YOSPRALA™ 81/40 and YOSPRALA™ 325/40 ; the ability of POZEN and Tribute to protect their intellectual property and defend their patents; regulatory obligations and oversight; and those risks detailed from time-to-time under the caption "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in POZEN's SEC filings and reports, including in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 and Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 and in Tribute’s SEC filings and reports, including in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 and Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2015. We undertake no duty or obligation to update ay forward-looking statements contained in this presentation as a result of new information, future events or changes in their expectations.
This communication does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to subscribe for or buy, any securities nor shall there be any sale, issuance or transfer of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
