LYON, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News:

POXEL SA (Paris:POXEL) (Euronext: POXEL), a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative drugs to treat type 2 diabetes, today announced that Richard N. Kender has joined the Company’s Board of Directors as an independent Board member. As a driving force behind Merck and Co. Inc.’s corporate development initiatives, Mr. Kender brings POXEL more than 35 years of experience in pharmaceutical licensing and strategic partnerships as well as finance, was most recently the Senior Vice President of Business Development and Corporate Licensing for Merck and Co. Inc.

“Rich has been a formative business development professional for Merck and over the course of his career has been involved in over 100 corporate transactions. The breadth of his experience across the continuum of pharmaceutical development is unique in the industry today,” said Thomas Kuhn, CEO of Poxel. “We are honored to merit his commitment and welcome in particular his expertise in leading global business development for a premier US-based pharmaceutical company.”

“Poxel’s clinical pipeline of truly novel treatments for type 2 diabetes represents a unique opportunity in the industry today,” commented Richard Kender. “It is an exciting moment in the company’s development and I look forward to working with the Poxel management team.”

Mr. Kender has spent his entire career at Merck & Co., Inc. He started in accounting and finance roles of increasing responsibility and moved into Corporate Development in 1994. Mr. Kender was promoted to Vice President of Corporate Development in 1996 and in 2000, his responsibilities expanded to include Corporate Licensing and Worldwide Business Development, where he managed a department of approximately 70 people responsible for Merck’s M&A, Licensing, Financial Evaluation and Analysis and Global Competitive Intelligence. His numerous achievements include leading a multidivisional team to create the Joint Venture Merial Animal Health with Sanofi-Aventis, the acquisition of 49% of shares of Banyu Pharmaceuticals in Japan, the spin-off and IPO of Medco and, most notably, in 2008, Mr. Kender played a key role in the $41 billion Schering Plough acquisition. Mr. Kender retired from Merck in September 2013. He holds a BS in Accounting from Villanova University and an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

About Poxel SA

Poxel uses its unique development expertise in metabolism to advance a pipeline of truly novel products currently focused on type 2 diabetes. Our first-in-class lead product, Imeglimin, targeting mitochondrial dysfunction, has successfully completed Phase 2 development in the US and EU and has entered clinical development in Japan. We are advancing our second program, PXL770, a direct AMPK activator, through clinical proof-of-concept. We will generate further growth through strategic partnerships and pipeline development. (Euronext: POXEL, www.poxel.com)

Media Contacts
Poxel SA
Pascale Malgouyres
Chief Business Officer
Phone: +33 437 372 012
pascale.malgouyres@poxelpharma.com
or
MacDougall Communications
Gretchen L. P. Schweitzer
Direct: +49 89 2424 3495
Mobile : +49 172 861 85
gschweitzer@macbiocom.com
or
NewCap
Nicolas Merigeau (Media Relations, France)
Florent Alba (Investor Relations, France)
Direct +33 1 44 71 98 55
poxel@newcap.fr

Source: Poxel SA

Released March 12, 2015