Galapagos appoints Simon Sturge to its Board of Directors
Mechelen, Belgium; 19 September 2023, 22:01 CET; Galapagos NV (Euronext & NASDAQ: GLPG) today announced that during its meeting of 19 September 2023, the Board of Directors appointed Mr. Simon Sturge as Non-Executive Independent Director by way of cooptation. Mr. Sturge replaces Dr. Mary Kerr who stepped down on 18 September 2023.
Mr. Sturge brings over 40 years of international biotech and pharma experience with leadership positions at Merck KGaA and Boehringer Ingelheim. He held CEO roles at several biotech companies, including Kymab (now Sanofi) and Celltech Biologics (now Lonza), and founded Ribotargets (now Vernalis). Mr. Sturge is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics, Precerix and Mediar Therapeutics. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Weizmann UK, part of Weizmann Institute, a renowned multidisciplinary scientific research institute, and Our Future Health, a UK-based charity organization. He previously was a member of the Boards of Nemesis BioScience, Feedback plc, Silence Therapeutics, and Cristal Therapeutics.
“On behalf of Galapagos’ Board of Directors, I am very pleased to welcome Simon to our Board,” said Dr. Paul Stoffels1, CEO and Chairman of Galapagos. “Simon is an accomplished life sciences leader and is well versed with global experience in M&A, business transformations and commercial operations. His extensive expertise in biologics manufacturing from decades of leadership roles at Celltech Biologics, Merck KGaA and Boehringer Ingelheim, brings complementary strategic insights to our Board and will be invaluable as we position our company for long-term value creation.”
“I am very honored to join the Board of Directors of Galapagos and I am excited to work with this talented team that is dedicated to making a transformational impact on the lives of patients worldwide,” commented Mr. Sturge. “I look forward to contributing to the company’s ambition to accelerate science and innovation in its strategic areas of immunology and oncology.”
“The Board and I also want to sincerely thank Dr. Kerr for her important contributions and commitment since she joined the Board in 2016. She has been instrumental in guiding our company through many stages of development. It has been a real pleasure working with her and I wish her all the best, both personally and professionally. With the recent addition of Dr. Schaffert and the appointment of Mr. Sturge to the Board, we are well positioned to maintain our commitment to an experienced Board with diverse and complementary expertise,” concluded Dr. Stoffels.
About Galapagos
Galapagos is a fully integrated biotechnology company united around a single purpose: to transform patient outcomes through life-changing science and innovation for more years of life and quality of life. We focus on the key therapeutic areas of immunology and oncology, where we have developed deep scientific expertise in multiple drug modalities, including small molecules and cell therapies. Our portfolio comprises discovery through to commercialized programs and our first medicine for rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis is available in Europe and Japan. For additional information, please visit or follow us on or .
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Forward-looking statements
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1 Throughout this press release, ‘Dr. Paul Stoffels’ should be read as ‘Dr. Paul Stoffels, acting via Stoffels IMC BV’
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