Lund, Sweden, 16 December 2016 – BONESUPPORT AB, an emerging leader in innovative injectable bioceramic bone scaffolds to treat bone voids caused by trauma, infection, disease or related surgery, announces, that Dr. Håkan Björklund has been confirmed as Chairman and that Ms. Tone Kvåle has been elected as a new Board Member. The appointments were made at an EGM held on 15 December 2016.
Dr. Björklund is Partner of Tellacq AB, a private investment firm. He joined the BONESUPPORT Board in September 2016 in conjunction with the Company’s $37 million (SEK 315 million) financing, which was led by Tellacq. Dr. Björklund has a long and successful track record in the healthcare industry, including as the former CEO of Nycomed, which he grew from a small Scandinavian company into a global business before its acquisition by Takeda in 2011. He is currently chairman of the board of Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB and an Industry Executive at Avista Capital Partners.
Tone Kvåle joins as a Board Member and Head of the Audit Committee. She is currently Chief Financial Officer of Nordic Nanovector, an Oslo-listed biopharmaceutical company, and has more than 20 years’ biotech industry experience. Prior to joining Nordic Nanovector, she was CFO of NorDiag, Kavli Holding and Dynal Biotech, and has held senior management positions at Invitrogen, Life Technologies and ThermoFisher (US). Ms. Kvåle has a diploma in Finance & Administration from Harstad University College.
Richard Davies, CEO of BONESUPPORT, said: “I am extremely happy that Håkan has been elected Chairman and that Tone will be joining the Board. This is an exciting period for BONESUPPORT following our recent $37 million (SEK 315 million) financing. We are now focused on building further additional shareholder value by growing sales of our current CERAMENT products, generating further data highlighting the clinical and health economic benefits these products deliver and progressing our pipeline. I am confident that Håkan’s and Tone’s experience will be valuable in helping us achieve our strategic goals.”
Dr. Björklund said: “I look forward to working with the management team and the Board to deliver BONESUPPORT’s potential to become a global leader in the management and treatment of bone disease based on the unique properties of its CERAMENT platform.”
Notes to Editor
About BONESUPPORT™
BONESUPPORT has developed CERAMENT as an innovative range of radiopaque injectable osteoconductive bioceramic products that have a proven ability to heal defects by remodeling to host bone in six to twelve months. Our products are effective in treating patients with fractures and bone voids caused by trauma, infection, disease or related surgery. Our lead product, CERAMENT BONE VOID FILLER addresses important issues facing health care providers, such as avoiding hospital readmissions and revision surgery that result from failed bone healing and infection caused by residual bone voids. CERAMENT BVF is commercially available in the U.S., EU, SE Asia and the Middle East.
CERAMENT’s distinctive properties as a drug eluting material have been validated in clinical practice by CERAMENT G and CERAMENT V, the first CE-marked injectable antibiotic eluting bone graft substitutes. These products provide local sustained delivery of gentamicin and vancomycin, respectively. The local delivery feature enables an initial high concentration of antibiotics to the bone defect and then a longer sustainable dose above the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) to protect bone healing and promote bone remodeling.
CERAMENT G and V have demonstrated good results in patients with problematic bone infections including osteomyelitis. They are also used prophylactically in patients who are at high risk for developing infection. CERAMENT G and CERAMENT V are available in the EU.
BONESUPPORT was founded in 1999 by Prof. Lars Lidgren, an internationally respected scientist who has been the President of various musculoskeletal societies. BONESUPPORT’s mission is to bring people with bone and joint diseases back to an active life. The Company is based in Lund, Sweden. www.bonesupport.com
BONESUPPORT™ is a registered trademark.
Contact Information
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
David Dible, Andrea Bici, Mark Swallow
+44 (0)20 7282 2949/1050/2948
