Friday, September 23, 2016

Management Changes at uniQure

Sep 22, 2016
uniQure Announces Management and Board Changes

Lexington, MA and Amsterdam, the Netherlands, September 22, 2016 — uniQure N.V. (NASDAQ: QURE), a leader in human gene therapy, today announced that its Board of Directors has accepted the resignation of Daniel Soland as chief executive officer (CEO) and an executive member of the Board, effective immediately.  The Board is pleased to announce that Matthew Kapusta, the Company’s chief financial officer (CFO) since January 2015 who also serves as an executive member of the Board, has been appointed interim CEO.  In addition, Philip Astley-Sparke, a member of the Board of Directors and former President of uniQure’s US operations, has been elected unanimously by the Board to serve as its Chairman.

“My decision to resign as Chief Executive Officer is due solely to personal family reasons,” stated Mr. Soland, “I regret the abrupt nature of this decision but believe that it is in the best interests of uniQure, its employees and shareholders to ensure that the business has the fully committed leadership it requires. I have continued confidence in the Company’s gene therapy platform, its research and clinical development programs and its leadership in manufacturing.  I wish everyone associated with the Company tremendous success.”

“We thank Dan for his service to uniQure and wish him well,” stated Philip Astley-Sparke, chairman of the board of uniQure.  “We are fortunate to be able to rely on the continued leadership of Matt Kapusta as interim CEO.  Since joining the Company nearly two years ago, Matt has been instrumental in completing our landmark collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squib, recapitalizing the Company and, more recently, guiding an ongoing, comprehensive strategic planning process.  The Board looks forward to working closely with Matt and the leadership team.”

“This is an exciting and important time for the Company as we advance our hemophilia B program into a potential pivotal trial and more clearly define our focus through the completion of our strategic planning process,” stated Mr. Kapusta.  “I am personally energized and fully committed to driving success at uniQure and ensuring the execution of our key objectives.”

Mr. Kapusta will continue to serve as CFO and rely on the support of the company’s Global Controller, Christian Klemt, to advance the daily responsibilities of the finance team.

“At this time, the Board has elected not to initiate a search process for a permanent CEO while the Company focuses on implementing the corporate strategy being finalized with Matt and the leadership team,” stated Mr. Astley-Sparke.

Following Mr. Soland’s resignation, the Company’s Board of Directors currently consists of seven members, of whom four are independent within the meaning of the applicable Nasdaq rules.  As a consequence, the Company is in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5605, which requires that at least a majority of the Board consist of independent directors.

About uniQure
uniQure is delivering on the promise of gene therapy – single treatments with potentially curative results. We are leveraging our modular and validated technology platform to rapidly advance a pipeline of proprietary and partnered gene therapies to treat patients with liver/metabolic, central nervous system and cardiovascular diseases. www.uniQure.com

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