ANAVEX LIFE SCIENCES CORP. (NASDAQ:AVXL) Files An 8-K Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain OfficersItem 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
On March 2, 2018, the Company increased the size of the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) from six to seven directors and appointed Claus van der Velden, PhD to the Board.
Since July of 2011, Dr. van der Velden, has served as corporate head of Management Accounting, Internal Audit and Risk Management at Stroeer SE & Co KGaA, a publicly listed German digital media company. Previously, Dr. van der Velden served as the Director of Corporate Business Controlling for the Nutrition & Health business unit at Cognis, a worldwide supplier of global nutritional ingredients and specialty chemicals. In this position, he was also a compliance representative and a member of the global leadership team. After the acquisition of Cognis by BASF, he was responsible for the management accounting processes of the BASF Nutrition & Health division, developing and producing mostly natural-source ingredients for the food and healthcare industries. Dr. van der Velden started his career as a strategy consultant at an international marketing and strategy consultancy firm. He studied in Kiel and Stockholm and received a degree in economics from the University of Kiel and later obtained his doctorate in business management from the WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management where he also previously taught economics.
In connection with his appointment, the Company granted Dr. van der Velden options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock under the Company’s 2015 Omnibus Incentive Plan, vesting annually over three years beginning on March 2, 2019. Dr. van der Velden does not have any family relationships with any of the Company’s other officers or directors, and other than the foregoing there are no arrangements or understandings between Dr. van der Velden and any person (including the Company) to which Dr. van der Velden was appointed, and there are no actual or proposed transactions between Dr. van der Velden or any of his related persons and the Company that would require disclosure under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K (17 CFR 229.404(a)) in connection with his appointment.
On March 5, 2018, the Company issued a press release announcing the appointment of Dr. van der Velden as well as the hiring of Stephan Toutain, who will serve as the Company’s Senior Vice President of Operations.
As stated in the press release, Stephan Toutain brings more than 25 years of drug development, general management, operations, commercial development, market access, and sales and marketing leadership with particular expertise in neurology and orphan drug markets globally. Before joining Anavex, he held the role of CCO at Interleukin Genetics. He also worked with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals to build its early access program. Previously, he led Global Commercial Development for Sarepta Therapeutics and served as General Manager for Alexion Pharmaceuticals in Europe. Mr. Toutain has also held various U.S. commercial, marketing and product management positions with Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Celgene Corporation, and Johnson & Johnson. He received a Master of Business Administration from the University of North Carolina, and a Master of Engineering in Biotechnology from the University of Nancy II in France.
A copy of the press release is provided herewith as Exhibit 99.1. In accordance with General Instruction B.2 of Form 8-K, the press release is deemed to be “furnished” and shall not be deemed “filed” for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
| Item 9.01 | Financial Statements and Exhibits. |
(d) Exhibits
| 99.1 | Press release dated March 5, 2018 |
ANAVEX LIFE SCIENCES CORP. ExhibitEX-99.1 2 s109270_ex99-1.htm EXHIBIT 99.1 Exhibit 99.1 Anavex Life Sciences Strengthens Management Team and Board of Directors Company Appoints Stephan Toutain as Senior Vice President of Operations and Claus van der Velden to Board of Directors New York — March 5,…To view the full exhibit click here