SAN FRANCISCO, June 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Nektar
Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR) announced today that John Nicholson has been named Senior Vice
President & Chief Operating Officer and Gil M. Labrucherie has been named Senior Vice
President & Chief Financial Officer of Nektar. Mr. Nicholson has served as the Chief Financial Officer of Nektar since
2007. Mr. Labrucherie has served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Nektar since 2007.
"I am very pleased to announce these two well-deserved promotions on Nektar's Executive Committee," said Howard W. Robin, President & CEO of Nektar. "Both John and Gil have played an integral role in
Nektar's growth and development over the past eight years. John has a strong record of performance and financial leadership
within Nektar and he brings over thirty years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry to the newly-created role of Senior
Vice President & Chief Operating Officer at Nektar."
"Gil has demonstrated exceptional business acumen and strong leadership skills during his tenure at Nektar and I am delighted
that he will now bring his insight and expertise to the position of Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer," Robin
continued.
Mr. Nicholson, in the newly-created role of Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, will be responsible for
leading global business and corporate development, marketing, quality assurance, and Nektar project management for the company's
partnered programs and wholly-owned pipeline candidates.
Over the tenure of his career, Mr. Nicholson has held key senior leadership roles in the areas of operations, marketing, sales
and corporate strategy. Prior to joining Nektar, Mr. Nicholson served in a number of leadership roles at Bayer Schering Pharma
AG, including Vice President, Corporate Development and Treasurer of Schering Berlin Inc., President of Schering Berlin Insurance
Company, President of Bayer Pharma Chemicals Inc., and President of Schering Berlin Capital Corporation.
In his new role as Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Labrucherie will be responsible for leading the
company's finance and accounting teams, information technologies and services, logistics, and will continue to provide
oversight for all legal functions, including intellectual property. Mr. Labrucherie has held several senior leadership
positions with increasing responsibility at Nektar since 2005. Prior to joining Nektar, from October
2000 to September 2005, Mr. Labrucherie was Vice President of Corporate Development at
E2open, Inc., where he was responsible for global corporate alliances and merger and acquisition activity. Prior to E2open, he
was the Senior Director of Corporate Development at AltaVista Company, an Internet search company, where he was responsible for
merger and acquisition transactions. Mr. Labrucherie began his career as an associate in the corporate practice of the law firm
of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Graham & James (DLA Piper Rudnick). Mr.
Labrucherie received his J.D. from the University of California Boalt Hall School of Law, where he
was a member of the California Law Review and Order of the Coif, and received his B.A. from the University
of California, Davis.
About Nektar Therapeutics
Nektar Therapeutics has a robust R&D pipeline and portfolio of approved partnered medicines in oncology, pain, immunology
and other therapeutic areas. In oncology, Nektar is developing NKTR-214, an immuno-stimulatory CD122-biased agonist, that is in
Phase 1/2 clinical development for patients with solid tumors. ONZEALD™ (etirinotecan pegol), a long-acting topoisomerase I
inhibitor, is being developed for patients with advanced breast cancer and brain metastases and is partnered with Daiichi
Sankyo in Europe. In the area of pain, Nektar has an exclusive worldwide license agreement with AstraZeneca for
MOVANTIK™ (naloxegol), the first FDA-approved once-daily oral peripherally-acting mu-opioid receptor antagonist (PAMORA)
medication for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation (OIC), in adult patients with chronic, non-cancer pain. The product
is also approved in the European Union as MOVENTIG® (naloxegol) and is indicated for adult patients with OIC who have had an
inadequate response to laxatives. NKTR-181, a wholly owned mu-opioid analgesic molecule for chronic pain conditions, is in Phase
3 development. In hemophilia, Nektar has a collaboration agreement with Baxalta for ADYNOVATE™ [Antihemophilic Factor
(Recombinant)], a longer-acting PEGylated Factor VIII therapeutic approved in the U.S. and Japan
for patients over 12 with hemophilia A. In anti-infectives, the company has two collaborations with Bayer Healthcare, Cipro
Inhale in Phase 3 for non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis and Amikacin Inhale in Phase 3 for patients with Gram-negative
pneumonia.
Nektar's technology has enabled nine approved products in the U.S. or Europe through
partnerships with leading biopharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca's MOVANTIK™, Baxalta's ADYNOVATE™, UCB's Cimzia® for
Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis, Roche's PEGASYS® for hepatitis C and Amgen's Neulasta® for neutropenia.
Nektar is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with additional operations in
Huntsville, Alabama and Hyderabad, India. Further information
about the company and its drug development programs and capabilities may be found online at http://www.nektar.com.
MOVANTIK™ is a trademark and MOVENTIG® is a registered trademark of the AstraZeneca group of companies.
ADYNOVATE™ is a trademark of Baxalta Inc.
ONZEALD™ is a trademark of Nektar Therapeutics.
Media Contacts:
Nektar Therapeutics:
Jennifer Ruddock
415-482-5585
Pure Communications:
Rachel Hutman
301-801-5540
rachel@purecommunicationsinc.com
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SOURCE Nektar Therapeutics