AnorMED president and chief executive Mike Abrams resigns

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, May 24 - AnorMED Inc. announced Wednesday that Mike Abrams has stepped down as president and chief executive officer, effective immediately.

He also has resigned as a director of AnorMED. Abrams has served in those positions since founding the company in 1996, according to a company news release.

The board of directors has engaged the executive search firm of Russell Reynolds to immediately begin a search for a new president and chief executive officer with significant experience and skills in the development and commercialization of health care products, officials said.

During this transition, the current chairman of the board, Kenneth Galbraith, will serve as interim chief executive officer.

Galbraith has nearly 20 years of experience in the biotechnology sector, including serving as executive vice- president and chief financial officer for QLT Inc. until October 2000. Galbraith was elected to the board of AnorMED in April.

The company's lead drug candidate, Mozobil, is in phase 3 trials. It is a stem cell mobilizer used in stem cell transplants, a procedure used to restore the immune system of cancer patients who have had treatments that previously destroyed their immune cells, officials said.

"The new board of directors strongly believes that Mozobil represents a substantial opportunity for AnorMED to transform itself from a research organization into a pharmaceutical development and commercialization company. With top-line data from the current Mozobil clinical studies expected to be available within the next 12 months, the board and Abrams agreed that now was the appropriate time to recruit new executive leadership with a different set of skills and experience to execute the strategic direction approved by the board," Galbraith said in the release.

The board also has appointed Paul Brennan, the company's vice president of business development, as acting president.

Brennan, who joined AnorMED in May 2002 from Astra Zeneca, has substantial experience in business development and regulatory affairs in the pharmaceutical industry, in both North America and Europe.

Brennan will work with the existing management team in overseeing the company's day-to-day operations until a new president and chief executive officer is in place.

He also will be appointed as president of AnorMED (UK) Inc. and have primary management responsibility for expanding the company's operations in the European Union.

The company said it expects to provide specific corporate goals for the 2007 fiscal year and an update on the progress of Mozobil and its other products under development around the middle of June, in conjunction with the release of its annual financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31.

AnorMED is a Langley, B.C., biopharmaceutical company focused on development of new products in hematology, oncology and HIV, based on the company's research into chemokine receptors.

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