Nxera Pharma Proposes Changes to its Board of Directors
- Ms. Naoko Shimura and Ms. Nicola Rabson nominated for appointment as new External Directors
- Mr. Shinichi Tamura, Mr. Tomohiro Tohyama and Mr. Kuniaki Kaga to retire from the Board of Directors
Tokyo, Japan and Cambridge, UK, 14 February 2025 – Nxera Pharma Co., Ltd. (“Nxera” or “the Company”; TSE 4565) today announces that its Board of Directors approved the change of Directors as stated below. The nomination of candidates for External Directors is based on the resolution of the Nomination Committee. The appointments are expected to be ratified officially, subject to the passing of resolutions to be made at the 35th Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders, scheduled to be held on 26 March 2025.
Chris Cargill, President & CEO of Nxera Pharma, said: “We welcome the nominations of Naoko and Nicola as new External Directors to the Board of Nxera Pharma. Both are highly experienced in their respective specialties and will provide invaluable advice and guidance to the Group as we further build Nxera into a leading biopharma company. At the same time, we extend our sincere gratitude to our outgoing Directors, all of whom, and especially our Founder Shinichi Tamura, have contributed greatly to the development of the Group over many years.”
1. Change of Directors
(1) Content of the Change
| New position | Name | Current position | |
| Appointment | External Director | Naoko Shimura | - |
| External Director | Nicola Rabson | - | |
| Retirement | - | Shinichi Tamura | Director, Chairman of the Board |
| - | Tomohiro Tohyama | External Director | |
| - | Kuniaki Kaga | External Director |
(2) Curriculum Vitae of new External Directors and Reason for the Appointment
Ms. Naoko Shimura
| Apr. 1999 | Registered as an attorney, Joined Nishimura & Partners (current Nishimura & Asahi, Foreign Law Joint Enterprise) |
| Sep. 2004 | Joined Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, New York |
| Apr. 2005 | Registered as an attorney in the state of New York, United States |
| Jan. 2008 | Partner, Nishimura & Asahi (current Nishimura & Asahi, Foreign Law Joint Enterprise) (to the present) |
| Sep. 2008 | Lecturer, Hitotsubashi University, Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy (ICS) |
| May 2016 | External Statutory Auditor, TABIKOBO Co. Ltd. |
| Jun. 2018 | External Director, MIXI, Inc. |
| Sep. 2018 | Lecturer, Hitotsubashi University, Graduate School of Law, Business Law Department (to the present) |
| Jun. 2019 | External Statutory Auditor, NIPPON SIGNAL CO., LTD. |
| Jun. 2023 | External Director, TSUKISHIMA HOLDINGS CO., LTD. (to the present) |
Ms. Naoko Shimura has extensive experience and expertise in domestic and international corporate legal affairs and M&A fields as a partner at Nishimura & Asahi, a major law firm in Japan. The Company believes that she will provide useful advice on overall management by utilizing her expertise in legal affairs and compliance. It is expected that her performance of these important roles will further strengthen the oversight of the management and the governance system, and thus the Company proposes that she be elected as an External Director.
Ms. Nicola Rabson
| Sep. 1998 | Trainee Solicitor, Charles Russell LLP |
| Jan. 2000 | Associate, Linklaters LLP |
| May 2010 | Partner lawyer Employment Law, Head of Employment Linklaters LLP (to the present) |
| Jan. 2014 | Global Head Employment & Incentives (member of Exco), Linklaters LLP |
| Mar. 2021 | Senior Independent Director, Kent FA Board, Nominations Committee and Audit, Risk & Remuneration Committee (to the present) |
| May 2022 | Governor and Trustee, Royal Russell School Board, Finance & Estates Committee and Strategy, Appointments & Remuneration Committee (to the present) |
| Nov. 2022 | Non-executive Director, ZIGUP plc. Board, Nominations Committee and Remuneration & Audit Committee (to the present) |
Ms. Nicola Rabson is a partner at Linklaters LLP, a major international law firm, and has extensive expertise and experience in the field of employment law. She also serves as an External Director for various companies, advising on strategic initiatives and transactions related to workplace culture, remuneration, as well as labor issues. The Company believes that she will provide useful advice on overall management by utilizing her expertise in employment law and legal affairs. It is expected that her performance of these important roles will further strengthen the oversight of the management and the governance system, and thus the Company proposes that she be elected as an External Director.
(3) Effective date of the Change
26 March 2025
2. New Directors (to be appointed)
Mr. Chris Cargill, Representative Executive Officer (re-appointed)
Dr. David Roblin, External Director (re-appointed)
Mr. Noriaki Nagai, External Director (re-appointed)
Mr. Rolf Soderstrom, External Director (re-appointed)
Ms. Miwa Seki, External Director (re-appointed)
Ms. Eiko Tomita, External Director (re-appointed)
Ms. Naoko Shimura, External Director (newly appointed)
Ms. Nicola Rabson, External Director (newly appointed)
–END–
About Nxera Pharma
Nxera Pharma is a technology powered biopharma company, in pursuit of new specialty medicines to improve the lives of patients with unmet needs in Japan and globally.
In addition to several products being commercialized in Japan, we are advancing an extensive pipeline of over 30 active programs from discovery through to late clinical stage internally and in partnership with leading pharma and biotech companies. This pipeline is focused on addressing major unmet needs in some of the fastest-growing areas of medicine across neurology, GI and immunology, metabolic disorders and rare diseases, and leverages the power of our unique and industry leading GPCR-targeted structure-based drug discovery “NxWaveTM” platform to provide a sustainable source of best- or first-in-class candidates.
Nxera employs over 350 talented people at key locations in Tokyo and Osaka (Japan), London and Cambridge (UK), Basel (Switzerland) and Seoul (South Korea) and is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (ticker: 4565).
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Nxera – Media and Investor Relations
Kentaro Tahara, VP Investor Relations and Corporate Strategy
Shinichiro Nishishita, VP Investor Relations, Head of Regulatory Disclosures
Maya Bennison, Communications Manager
+81 (0)3 5210 3399 | +44 (0)1223 949390
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Forward-looking statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements about the discovery, development, and commercialization of products. Various risks may cause Nxera Pharma Group’s actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward looking statements, including: adverse results in clinical development programs; failure to obtain patent protection for inventions; commercial limitations imposed by patents owned or controlled by third parties; dependence upon strategic alliance partners to develop and commercialize products and services; difficulties or delays in obtaining regulatory approvals to market products and services resulting from development efforts; the requirement for substantial funding to conduct research and development and to expand commercialization activities; and product initiatives by competitors. As a result of these factors, prospective investors are cautioned not to rely on any forward-looking statements. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
