Pharming Group announces the intention to nominate three Non-Executive Directors to the Board of Directors
Leiden, The Netherlands, 23 March 2021
Pharming Group N.V. (“Pharming” or “the Company”) (Euronext Amsterdam: PHARM/Nasdaq: PHAR) announces the intention to nominate Steven Baert, Leon Kruimer and Jabine van der Meijs as Non-Executive Directors to the Board. Their official appointments will be confirmed by the Company’s Annual General Meeting of Shareholders that will be held on 19 May 2021. Until that moment, Steven Baert, Leon Kruimer and Jabine van der Meijs will hold observational roles on the Board of Directors. Steven, Leon and Jabine will be replacing Juergen Ernst who stepped down in November 2020 and Aad de Winter and Barrie Ward, both of whom cannot be re-elected due to the maximum term of office for Non-Executive Directors according to the Dutch Corporate Governance Code.
Paul Sekhri, Chairman of the Board of Directors, commented:
“We are delighted to nominate Steven Baert, Leon Kruimer and Jabine van der Meijs as Non-Executive Directors to the Board. Their extensive global experience in finance, strategic and organisational development across multinational organisations and different industries will complement and further strengthen the existing expertise and diversity of our Board as Pharming continues to execute against its ambitious growth strategy, following a recent secondary Nasdaq listing in the US.”
Steven Baert
Steven Baert is the Chief People Officer and a member of the Executive Committee of Novartis AG (SWX: NOVN) since 2014. Steven joined Novartis in 2006 and has held a number of leadership roles within the company, including Head of Human Resources, Global Functions, Switzerland, Head of Human Resources for Emerging Growth Markets, Head of Human Resources, United States and Canada, and Global Head, Human Resources, Novartis Oncology. Prior to joining Novartis, Steven held senior HR positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Unilever.
Steven holds a Master of Business Administration from the Vlerick Business School, Gent; a Master of Laws from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and a Bachelor of Laws from the Katholieke Universiteit Brussels. Steven also serves on the Board of the WeSeeHope USA, a charity that focuses on empowering children isolated by poverty in Africa.
Leon Kruimer
Leon Kruimer has more than 30 years of experience in corporate finance, planning and strategy, including 20 years in senior executive positions in private and publicly listed biotechnology companies. Leonard served as CFO of Crucell N.V. from 1997 to 2011. Prior to Crucell, he was Managing Director of Europe TIP Trailer, a GE Capital company. He was also a consultant with McKinsey & Co and an auditor at Price Waterhouse & Company, New York.
Leon is currently Chairman of the Board at Swedish BioInvent International AB (BINV.ST). In addition, he is a board member of both Zealand Pharma A/S in Copenhagen and Calgary-based Oncolytics Inc (NASDAQ: ONCY). He is Director of AI Global Investments (Netherlands) PCC Ltd. and serves on the Investment Advisory Council of Karmijn Kapitaal. Leonard holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and is Certified Public Accountant in New York State. As financial expert, Leon Kruimer is intended to succeed Aad de Winter as Chair of the Audit Committee, subject to his appointment as Non-Executive Director