• Senior executives with extensive biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, science, innovation and business development experience
• Bringing unique capabilities to unlock broad potential of Kiadis platform

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, July 13, 2020 – Kiadis Pharma N.V. (“Kiadis” or the “Company”) (Euronext Amsterdam and Brussels: KDS), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative NK-cell therapeutics for patients with life-threatening diseases, today announces that it has appointed Ray Barlow, Ph.D. as chief business officer and Govert Schouten, Ph.D. as head of innovation. As of today, Barlow and Schouten will report to Kiadis’ CEO, Arthur Lahr, and will be members of the Company’s Management Team. Marcel Zwaal, the Company’s senior vice president of corporate development, will be leaving the Company to pursue other opportunities.

Dr. Barlow is responsible for all corporate business development initiatives, including out-licensing, pharma and biotech partnerships, development and commercialization collaborations, and potential mergers and acquisitions. Dr. Schouten is responsible for Kiadis’ intellectual property, scientific and academic collaborations, government grants and in-licensing of science and IP to build Kiadis’ K-NK technology platform.

Arthur Lahr, chief executive officer of Kiadis, commented, “Kiadis’ K-NK-cell therapy platform has almost unlimited potential for the treatment of cancers, infectious diseases and other life-threatening diseases. Ray and Govert have throughout their careers led hundreds of deals with pharma, biotech and academia, and brought in hundreds of millions in licensing fees and government grants. They can make a huge contribution to unlock the value of our platform, for products that we bring to market on our own or with the help of a bigger pharmaceutical company. I want to thank Marcel for all of his contributions to acquire and position our K-NK technology and wish him all the best in his future endeavors. We welcome Ray and Govert and look forward to their contributions to build our pipeline and our K-NK-cell therapy platform.”

With more than 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, Ray Barlow has served in various leadership roles including most recently as chief executive officer at e-therapeutics PLC where he led the turnaround of the business and generated its first commercial deals. Previously, Dr. Barlow worked at Amgen as executive director of corporate development and prior to that at Crucell Vaccines where he managed business deals in infectious diseases and vaccines. Prior to joining Crucell, Ray founded and led his own business, BD Solutions Ltd, advising clients on corporate development and commercialization strategies. Dr. Barlow started his career at AstraZeneca where he held a number of senior R&D, Business Development and Commercial roles over a 12-year period. Dr. Barlow holds a Ph.D. in macromolecular science from the University of Manchester, UK, a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Leeds, UK, and an MBA from Manchester Business School, UK.

Govert Schouten brings nearly 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry to Kiadis. Most recently, Dr. Schouten was the founder of Idmon Consulting B.V., a consulting firm providing corporate development, strategy and business development services. Prior to that, Dr. Schouten was co-founder and chief business officer of myTomorrows (Impatients N.V.), chief executive officer of Mucosis B.V., and vice president, head of business development and member of the executive committee of Crucell Vaccines. Dr. Schouten holds a Master’s degree in behavioral sciences and a Ph.D. in tumor virology from Leiden University, The Netherlands.

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Dutch Translation/Nederlandse vertaling

Amsterdam, 13 juli 2020 - Kiadis Pharma N.V. ("Kiadis") (Euronext Amsterdam en Brussel: KDS), een biofarmaceutische onderneming in de klinische fase gericht op ontwikkeling van innovatieve Natural Killer Cell-therapieën voor patiënten met levensbedreigende aandoeningen, maakt benoeming bekend van Ray Barlow, Ph.D. tot chief business officer en Govert Schouten, Ph.D. tot hoofd innovatie. Barlow en Schouten rapporteren aan Kiadis' CEO en treden toe tot het Management Team. Senior Vice President Corporate Development Marcel Zwaal heeft besloten de onderneming te verlaten.

Dr. Barlow is verantwoordelijk voor corporate business development waaronder uitlicentiëring, allianties met farmaceutische en biotechnologie bedrijven, en potentiële fusies en overnames. Dr. Schouten is verantwoordelijk voor Kiadis’ intellectuele eigendom en patent portfolio, wetenschappelijke en academische samenwerkingsverbanden, overheidssubsidies en het in-licentiëren van intellectueel eigendom voor de uitbouw van het K-NK-technologieplatform.

Arthur Lahr, chief executive officer van Kiadis, zegt over de benoemingen: "Kiadis’ K-NK-celtherapieplatform biedt nagenoeg onbeperkte mogelijkheden voor de behandeling van kankers, infectieziekten en andere levensbedreigende aandoeningen. Ray en Govert hebben gedurende hun loopbaan honderden deals gedaan in de farma-, biotech- en academische wereld en daarbij honderden miljoenen aan licentieinkomsten en overheidssubsidies gerealiseerd. Ze kunnen een enorme bijdrage leveren aan het ontsluiten van de waarde van ons platformen producten zelfstandig en met hulp van grotere farmaceutische ondernemingen richting de markt te brengen.Ik wil Marcel hartelijk danken voor al zijn bijdragen bij de aankoop van Cytosen in 2019 en de positionering van onze K-NK-technologie en wens hem veel succes in zijn verdere carrière. Ik heet Ray en Govert van harte welkom en kijk uit naar hun bijdrage aan de uitbouw van onze pijplijn en ons K-NK-celtherapieplatform.”

Met meer dan 20 jaar ervaring in de biofarmaceutische sector heeft Ray Barlow meerdere leidinggevende functies vervuld, waaronder meest recentelijk als chief executive officer bij e-therapeutics PLC waar hij de turnaround van de onderneming leidde en de eerste commerciële deals initieerde. Daarvoor werkte Dr. Barlow bij Amgen als directeur business development en bij Crucell Vaccines, waar hij  verantwoordelijk was voor business development voor vaccins. Voorafgaand aan Crucell was hij oprichter/eigenaar van BD Solutions Ltd, dat klanten adviseerde op het gebied van bedrijfsontwikkeling en commercialiseringsstrategieën. Dr. Barlow startte zijn carrière bij AstraZeneca, waar hij gedurende 12 jaar een aantal senior R&D-, business development- en commerciële functies bekleedde. Dr. Barlow heeft een Ph.D. in macromoleculaire wetenschap aan de Universiteit van Manchester, VK, een BSc in Chemie aan de Universiteit van Leeds, VK, en een MBA van Manchester Business School, VK.

Govert Schouten heeft 25 jaar ervaring in de farmaceutische en biotechnologische sector. Recentelijk was Dr. Schouten oprichter van Idmon Consulting B.V., een adviesbureau op het gebied van corporate development, strategie en business development. Daarvoor was Dr. Schouten medeoprichter en chief business officer van myTomorrows (Impatients N.V.), chief executive officer van Mucosis B.V., en vice-president business development en lid van het management team van Crucell Vaccines. Dr. Schouten heeft een Master in gedragswetenschappen en een Ph.D. in tumorvirologie van de Universiteit Leiden.

Dit persbericht vormt een vertaling van het gepubliceerde Engelstalige persbericht. Bij eventuele verschillen is de tekst van het Engelstalige persbericht altijd bepalend.

About Kiadis’ K-NK-cell Therapies Kiadis’ NK-cell programs consist of off-the-shelf and haplo donor cell therapy products for the treatment of liquid and solid tumors as adjunctive and stand-alone therapies. 

The Company’s NK-cell PM21 particle technology enables improved ex vivo expansion and activation of anti-cancer cytotoxic NK-cells supporting multiple high-dose infusions. Kiadis’ proprietary off-the-shelf NK-cell platform is based on NK-cells from unique universal donors. The Kiadis off-the-shelf K-NK platform can make NK-cell therapy product rapidly and economically available for a broad patient population across a potentially wide range of indications.

Kiadis is clinically developing K-NK003 for the treatment of relapse/refractory acute myeloid leukemia. The Company is also developing K-NK002, which is administered as an adjunctive immunotherapeutic on top of HSCT and provides functional, mature and potent NK-cells from a haploidentical family member. In addition, the Company has pre-clinical programs evaluating NK-cell therapy for the treatment of solid tumors. 

About Relapsed/Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia (R/R AML) Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common type of acute leukemia in adults and has the lowest survival rate of all leukemias. AML relapse affects nearly half of all leukemia patients who achieve remission after initial treatment and can continue to occur several months to several years after treatment with the majority of relapses occurring within two to three years of the initial treatment. Patients with relapsed or refractory leukemia have limited treatment options and poor survival rates.

The goal of treatment for AML is to put the leukemia into complete remission and to keep it that way. Unlike conventional chemotherapy options, which primarily target dividing cells, immunotherapeutic therapies aim at directing an immune response against tumor cells. Natural Killer (NK) cells are effector lymphocytes of the innate immune system capable of exerting anti-AML activity. The K-NK cell platform is a cell-based immunotherapy to treat patients with advanced blood cancer.

About KiadisFounded in 1997, Kiadis is building a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company committed to developing innovative therapies for patients with life-threatening diseases. With headquarters in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and offices and activities across the United States, Kiadis is reimagining medicine by leveraging the natural strengths of humanity and our collective immune system to source the best cells for life.

Kiadis is listed on the regulated market of Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Brussels since July 2, 2015, under the symbol KDS. Learn more at www.kiadis.com.

Forward Looking Statements Certain statements, beliefs and opinions in this press release are forward-looking, which reflect Kiadis’ or, as appropriate, Kiadis’ officers’ current expectations and projections about future events. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results, performance, achievements or events to differ materially from those expressed, anticipated or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions could adversely affect the outcome and financial effects of the plans and events described herein. A multitude of factors including, but not limited to, changes in demand, regulation, competition and technology, can cause actual events, performance, achievements or results to differ significantly from any anticipated or implied development. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. As a result, Kiadis expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any update or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this press release as a result of any change in expectations or projections, or any change in events, conditions, assumptions or circumstances on which these forward-looking statements are based. Neither Kiadis nor its advisers or representatives nor any of its subsidiary undertakings or any such person’s officers or employees guarantees that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are free from errors nor does either accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release or the actual occurrence of the anticipated or implied developments. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.