Synairgen plc
('Synairgen' or the 'Company')
Appointment of New Chairman
Posting of Report and Accounts and Notice of
AGM
Southampton, UK - 18 September 2024:
Synairgen plc (LSE: SNG), the respiratory company developing
SNG001, an investigational formulation for inhalation containing
the broad-spectrum antiviral protein interferon beta, announces
that Simon Shaw will retire as Chairman at the conclusion of the
forthcoming Annual General Meeting, to be held on 10th
October 2024.
Mark Parry-Billings, latterly Global
Head of Drug Development at Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A ("Chiesi"),
will succeed Simon following that meeting.
Dr. Parry-Billings joins Synairgen
as an accomplished international biotech and pharmaceutical
executive with a successful track record of more than 30 years
heading R&D and leading businesses. Most recently, he held the
role of Global Head of Drug Development at Chiesi, the privately
owned global pharmaceutical company which focuses on innovative
therapeutic solutions in respiratory health, rare diseases and
specialty hospital-based care.
Mark has deep expertise in
respiratory therapeutics and drug delivery to the lungs, notably
having led multiple novel respiratory assets from early stage
through clinical development to market approvals, with a primary
focus on inhaled drug delivery across respiratory areas including
asthma, COPD, pulmonary arterial hypertension, alpha-1 anti-trypsin
deficiency, cystic fibrosis, bronchiectasis and chronic
cough.
Prior to his tenure at Chiesi, Mark
led the Canadian clinical-stage respiratory biotech Topigen
Pharmaceuticals as CEO until its acquisition by Pharmaxis in 2010.
Mark also has more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and
conference abstracts spanning activities throughout his
pharmaceutical and academic career to-date.
Simon Shaw, Chairman of the Board of Synairgen,
said: "I am delighted to hand over
the reins to Mark, who is a world class inhaled drug development
leader. Synairgen now has both a rigorous development plan for
SNG001 and someone with the optimal experience to guide the
company's direction through this next phase."
Mark Parry-Billings said: "I
have followed Synairgen's approach to SNG001 as a potential
broad-spectrum antiviral for a wide range of severe lung infections
for some time and look forward to working with the Board and
broader team on its clinical development in a crucial area of unmet
need, whilst acknowledging Simon's highly effective leadership of
the Board to date."
2024 Annual General Meeting
The Company will hold its Annual
General Meeting (AGM) at 2:00pm on 10 October at Numis, 9th Floor,
45 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7BF. The AGM will be held in person
only.
The results of voting on all
resolutions at the AGM will be announced via a Regulatory
Information Service and the full results of the voting published on
the Company's website, in the usual way, as soon as practicable
after the conclusion of the AGM.
Annual Report
The Annual Report and Accounts for
the year ended 31 December 2023 and Notice of its 2024 Annual
General Meeting have been posted to shareholders. These documents
are available on the Company's website at www.synairgen.com.
Information required under Rule 17
and Schedule Two, paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies
("AIM Rules")
Full name:
|
Mark Parry-Billings
|
Age:
|
60
|
Shares held in the
Company:
|
None
|
Current directorships:
|
None
|
Historic directorships in previous 5
years:
|
Atopix Therapeutics
Limited
Zymenex Holding ApS
|
On 17 November 2016, Mark
Parry-Billings was appointed as a director of Atopix Therapeutics
Limited. The company was dissolved on 2 May 2024 following members'
voluntary liquidation. There were no creditor losses.
On 31 January 2019, Mark
Parry-Billings was appointed as a director of Zymenex Holding ApS.
The company was dissolved on 3 December 2020 following voluntary
liquidation. There were no creditor losses.
There is no further information to
be disclosed in relation to the appointment pursuant to Rule 17 and
Schedule Two, paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules.
For
further enquiries, please contact:
Synairgen plc
Media@synairgen.com
Tel: + 44 (0) 23 8051
2800
Cavendish Capital Markets Limited (NOMAD and Joint
Broker)
Geoff Nash, Camilla Hume, Trisyia
Jamaludin (Corporate Finance)
Sunila de Silva (ECM)
Nigel Birks - Life Science
Specialist Sales
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7220
0500
Deutsche Numis (Joint Broker)
Freddie Barnfield, Duncan Monteith,
Euan Brown
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7260
1000
ICR
Consilium (Financial Media and Investor
Relations)
Mary-Jane Elliott, Namrata Taak,
Lucy Featherstone
synairgen@consilium-comms.com
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3709 5700
Notes for
Editors
About Synairgen
Synairgen is a UK-based respiratory
company focused on drug discovery and the development of SNG001
(inhaled interferon beta) as potentially the first host-targeted,
broad-spectrum antiviral treatment delivered directly into the
lungs for severe viral lung infections.
Millions of people globally are
hospitalised every year due to viral lung infections and there are
currently no approved antiviral therapies for the majority of these
patients. Synairgen is developing SNG001 to address this
need.
Synairgen is quoted on AIM (LSE:
SNG). For more information about Synairgen, please see
www.synairgen.com