22 August
2024
PureTech Health plc
PureTech Appoints Michele
Holcomb, PhD, to Board of Directors
Strategic healthcare leader
brings more than 30 years of global experience to PureTech's Board
following notable positions with Cardinal Health, Teva
Pharmaceuticals and McKinsey & Company
PureTech Health plc
(Nasdaq: PRTC, LSE: PRTC) ("PureTech" or the
"Company"), a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company dedicated
to changing the lives of patients with devastating
diseases, today announced that Michele Holcomb, PhD, will join its board of directors as an independent non-executive director.
Dr. Holcomb's appointment will take effect as of September 23,
2024. She brings more than 30 years of expertise leading global
healthcare companies through strategic inflection points and
preparing innovative programs and portfolios for
growth.
"As PureTech enters its next phase of
growth focused on innovating and progressing major advances for
patients, Dr. Holcomb brings a wealth of experience to our strategy
that's built among highly visible healthcare organizations," said
Bharatt Chowrira, PhD, JD, Chief Executive Officer of PureTech.
"She has a proven track record of leading transformational growth
initiatives and driving organizational progress that will
complement our board's exceptional leadership, and
we will greatly benefit from Dr. Holcomb's broad
biopharma experience as we deliver on our
commitment to bring highly innovative and differentiated new
medicines to patients and build value for
all of our shareholders."
"PureTech pioneered the hub-and-spoke
business model, and its approach successfully combines commercial,
scientific and medical expertise towards a highly focused
development strategy for each of the therapies in its portfolio,"
commented Dr. Holcomb. "I am excited and honored to work with my
fellow board members and the PureTech management team to guide the
Company through the next stage of evolution."
Dr. Holcomb is a strategic leader
with more than 30 years of healthcare experience across biotech,
pharmaceuticals and healthcare services. She has served on both
public and private boards, and has been a scientist, consultant and
executive, driving change through innovation and optimization at
key interfaces. In her previous role as EVP, Chief Strategy and
Business Development Officer at Cardinal Health, Dr. Holcomb
leveraged an enterprise perspective and knowledge of the evolving
healthcare landscape to work with the CEO, CFO, and leaders across
the Pharmaceutical and Medical segments to define strategies,
optimize the portfolio, and identify growth and innovation
opportunities. Her team also led the execution and integration of
investments, acquisitions, partnerships and divestitures to support
Cardinal Health's strategy, as well as drove the enterprise
approach to innovation.
Prior to Cardinal Health, Dr. Holcomb
was the Chief Operating Officer of Global R&D and SVP of
Strategy, Portfolio, Search and Partnerships at Teva
Pharmaceuticals. She also spent 15 years at McKinsey & Company
and was a Partner of the Global Pharmaceutical Practice. Dr.
Holcomb is a member of the board of directors and chair of the
Nominating and ESG (NESG) committee of Kimball Electronics Inc
(Nasdaq: KE). She also serves on the board of the Abigail Wexner
Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus,
the BalletMet of Columbus, where she chairs the long-range planning
committee and the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey. Dr. Holcomb
is a member of the editorial advisory board of Pharmaceutical Executive and has
lectured on healthcare strategy at Kellogg (Northwestern), Columbia
and Fuqua (Duke) business schools. Dr. Holcomb received a BS in
chemistry from Stanford University and a PhD in chemistry from the
University of California, Berkeley, and previously worked as an
R&D chemist at Ciba-Geigy and Syntex
Pharmaceuticals.
"On behalf of the entire PureTech
Board of Directors, I am honored to welcome Dr. Holcomb to our
organization," said Raju Kucherlapati, PhD, Chair of the PureTech
Board of Directors. "Dr. Holcomb's extensive background in
biopharma, coupled with her innovative mindset and unwavering
dedication to excellence, positions her as a pivotal addition to
our board. Her unique insights and strategic vision will be
instrumental as we work to advance our company's mission, and I am
confident that her contributions will drive significant value not
only for patients but also for our shareholders."
On joining PureTech's Board of
Directors, Dr. Holcomb will become a member of the Audit Committee
and Dr. Kucherlapati will step down from the Audit Committee.
Dr. Holcomb is independent for the purposes of the UK Corporate Governance Code,
and PureTech confirms that there is no
further information required to be disclosed pursuant to
UK Listing Rule
6.4.8.
About PureTech Health
PureTech is a clinical-stage
biotherapeutics company dedicated to giving life to new classes of
medicine to change the lives of patients with devastating diseases.
The Company has created a broad and deep pipeline through its
experienced research and development team and its extensive network
of scientists, clinicians and industry leaders that is being
advanced both internally and through its Founded Entities.
PureTech's R&D engine has resulted in the development of 29
therapeutics and therapeutic candidates, including two that have
received both U.S. FDA clearance and European marketing
authorization and a third (KarXT) that has been filed for FDA
approval. A number of these programs are being advanced by PureTech
or its Founded Entities in various indications and stages of
clinical development, including registration enabling studies. All
of the underlying programs and platforms that resulted in this
pipeline of therapeutic candidates were initially identified or
discovered and then advanced by the PureTech team through key
validation points.
For more information, visit
www.puretechhealth.com
or connect with us on X (formerly Twitter)
@puretechh.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This press release contains
statements that are or may be forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
All statements contained in this press release that do not relate
to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking
statements, including without limitation those related to
PureTech's development plans and our future prospects, developments
and strategies. The forward-looking statements are based on current
expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual
results, performance and achievements to differ materially from
current expectations, including, but not limited to, those risks,
uncertainties and other important factors described under the
caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the
year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC and in our other
regulatory filings. These forward-looking statements are based on
assumptions regarding the present and future business strategies of
the Company and the environment in which it will operate in the
future. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as at the date
of this press release. Except as required by law and regulatory
requirements, we disclaim any obligation to update or revise these
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
Contact:
PureTech
Public Relations
publicrelations@puretechhealth.com
Investor Relations
IR@puretechhealth.com
UK/EU Media
Ben Atwell, Rob Winder
+44 (0) 20 3727 1000
puretech@fticonsulting.com
US
Media
Nichole Bobbyn
+1 774 278 8273
nichole@tenbridgecommunications.com