Immune Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: IMNP), announced today it has appointed Ranch C. Kimball, a highly regarded executive in healthcare, government, and private equity, as Chairman of its Board of Directors. Mr. Kimball's appointment brings a substantial wealth of experience which he will leverage to strategically raise Immune's profile for its recent re-organization. Daniel Kazado, Immune's previous Chairman, will continue to remain as a Director.
Mr. Kimball was the CEO of the Joslin Diabetes Center, a world-renowned institution affiliated with Harvard Medical School and one of only 11 NIH-designated Diabetes Research Centers in the U.S. Mr. Kimball was the Secretary of Economic Development for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, where he was responsible for managing 22 state agencies and 2,350 employees; one of his responsibilities was overseeing health insurance regulation. While Secretary, he was a key leader in the state's landmark health care reform, "Romneycare." Mr. Kimball was named the "Outstanding State Executive" nationally from BIO. Mr. Kimball also co-chaired several health initiatives for the Massachusetts State Legislature and The Boston Foundation. His experience makes him ideally suited to help Immune navigate the evolving government and payor landscape that the biotech industry faces.
Daniel Teper, Pharm.D., Chief Executive Officer of Immune, stated, "As a well-respected business leader with a strong background in healthcare, we're excited for Ranch to lead our Board of Directors and create new opportunities that support our vision for Immune's future. His reputation in government and private equity make Ranch a key asset for us as we grow to new heights. The focus will be on unlocking the value of our pipeline through attractive partnerships for Immune."
Mr. Kimball added, "I'm proud to join Immune Pharmaceuticals given the potentially large innovation in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals that they are developing. The opportunities in the pipeline, serving the medical needs of patients in a number of debilitating indications, and the quality of the management at Immune make it an attractive company to help drive forward through executing an effective strategic plan."
Most recently, Mr. Kimball served as President and CEO of CIC Partners, the arm of the Cambridge Innovation Center, the world's largest innovation center, responsible for the development of innovation centers outside the Boston-Cambridge region. He has also served as the Chief Operating Officer of Babson College and served on their Executive Education and Curriculum Advisory Board. In 2001, he co-founded the Washington D.C.-based Kissinger McLarty Capital Group, a private equity firm in partnership with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former White House Chief of Staff and Fortune 500 CEO Thomas McLarty. Mr. Kimball began his business career at the Boston Consulting Group, where he was a long-time partner with leadership in Boston, London, Tokyo, and Hong Kong.
About Immune Pharmaceuticals Inc.:
Immune Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: IMNP) applies a personalized approach to treating and developing novel, highly targeted antibody therapeutics to improve the lives of patients with inflammatory diseases and cancer. Immune's lead product candidate, bertilimumab, is in Phase II clinical development for moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis as well as for bullous pemphigoid, an orphan autoimmune dermatological condition. Other indications being considered for development include atopic dermatitis, Crohn's disease, severe asthma and Non-Alcoholic Steato-Hepatitis (NASH), an inflammatory liver disease. Immune recently expanded its portfolio in immuno-dermatology with topical nano-formulated cyclosporine-A for the treatment of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. Immune's oncology pipeline includes Ceplene® which is in late stage clinical development for maintenance remission in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in combination with IL-2. Additional oncology pipeline includes Azixa® and crolibulin, Phase II clinical stage vascular disrupting agents, and novel technology platforms; bispecific antibodies and NanomAbs™. Maxim Pharmaceuticals Inc., Immune's pain and neurology subsidiary is developing AmiKet™ and AmiKet™ Nano™ for the treatment of neuropathic pain. For more information, visit Immune's website at www.immunepharma.com, the content of which is not a part of this press release.
