iBio Inc. (NYSE: IBIO) jumped 6.04% following the announcement of the appointment of Evert (Eef) Schimmelpennink to the company’s Board of Directors.
iBio appoints Schimmelpennink to its board
Mr. Schimmelpennink has used his strategic and operational expertise spanning over 20 years across commercial operations, manufacturing, corporate development, and R&D in creating and scaling several private and public biopharmaceutical companies globally. He most recently served as CEO of Pfenex Inc. This NYSE-listed firm developed an advanced pipeline of therapeutic equivalents, biosimilars, vaccines, and biologics using its patented Pfnex Expression Technology® platform. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated purchased Pfenex in October 2020 for $516 million.
Previously Schimmelpennink was the CEO of Alvotech Ehf, a global pharmaceutical company aiming to become a market leader in biosimilar monoclonal antibodies. Before joining Alvotech, he worked for Pfizer Inc., Synthon BV, Hospira, Inc., and Numico NV in different positions. Mr. Schimmelpennink Wageningen University, Netherlands a master’s degree holder in bioprocess engineering.
iBio expanding in-house drug development capabilities
iBio CEO and Chairman Tom Isett said Eef has a track record of successfully leading firms to develop and commercialize biopharmaceuticals using innovative protein expression platforms. Isett said that Eff is joining the company at an ideal time, as iBio expands its in-house drug discovery capabilities to complement the current contract development and manufacturing services, just like Eef did in his most recent leadership role at Pfenex.
Commenting on the appointment, Schimmelpennink said that he was honored to join the iBio Board of Directors. He said that he looks forward to working with a talented team as the company continues to leverage the power of its exceptional plant-based FastPharming System® to minimize drug development costs and time significantly and rapidly develop its own biopharmaceutical candidates to address unmet medical needs.