EXACT Therapeutics Announces Appointment of Dr Per Walday as Chief Executive Officer
OSLO/LONDON, 28 March 2022: EXACT Therapeutics AS (“EXACT-Tx”, Euronext Growth: EXTX), a clinical stage precision health company utilising Acoustic Cluster Therapy (ACT®) across multiple therapeutic areas, announces that its Board of Directors has today appointed Dr Per Walday as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
A successful senior executive in the healthcare industry, Per has experience from research to commercialization of therapeutics and medical devices globally, including drug-device combination within the field of oncology. As CEO of PCI Biotech (OSE: PCIB), Per built an effective organization that progressed the platform technology into a pipeline of assets including in late stage clinical programs through FDA and EMA regulatory paths. Prior to this, Per spent almost two decades with Nycomed Imaging and GE Healthcare based in Norway where, as Global Head Project Management, he was responsible for all development programs of new pharmaceutical products. These included R&D efforts within the field of ultrasound and microbubbles which paved the way for what would become years later EXACT-Tx’s Acoustic Cluster Therapy (ACT®). Per has a six months’ notice period; start date with EXACT-Tx to be agreed.
Dr Masha Strømme, Executive Chair of the Board, commented: “The Board and I are very excited to welcome Per as CEO of EXACT-Tx: He brings intimate knowledge of ultrasound along with therapeutic expertise and strong leadership. We are thrilled to have Per lead EXACT-Tx through the next phase of its development”.
Dr Per Walday, Chief Executive Officer-designate of EXACT-Tx, said: “I am very excited to be joining EXACT-Tx and very impressed by the potential of its proprietary technology. Remarkable innovation and progress have been made with the ACT® platform since I led the development of related ultrasound technology initially aimed for diagnostic use in GE Healthcare. The global ambitions and the potential of ACT® to meet current needs in both immuno-oncology and neurology harmonise well with my background and interests. I aim to further maximise the value of the innovative ACT® platform for ultrasound mediated drug enhancement and accelerate our journey towards becoming a leading precision health company.”
ENDS
For more information, please contact:
Dr Masha Strømme
EXACT-Tx
Email: Masha@exact-tx.com
Optimum Strategic Communications
Hollie Vile, Manel Mateus, Vici Rabbetts
Tel: +44 (0) 208 078 4357
Email: Exact@optimumcomms.com
About EXACT-Tx
EXACT-Tx is a clinical-stage Norwegian precision health company developing a technology platform for targeted therapeutic enhancement – Acoustic Cluster Therapy (ACT®). ACT® follows a unique approach to ultrasound-mediated, targeted drug enhancement – with the potential to significantly amplify the clinical utility of a wide range of therapeutic agents across a multitude of indications including within oncology (chemotherapy, immunotherapy), infectious diseases, and brain diseases. www.exact-tx.com
About ACT®
• ACT® is a proprietary formulation consisting of microbubbles and microdroplets that are activated through the application of ultrasound with the consequent increase in targeted delivery of a co-administered therapeutic agent.
• ACT® is supported by a strong and broad preclinical package demonstrating therapeutic enhancement in multiple oncology models (pancreatic, breast, colon, prostate) as well as blood-brain barrier penetration.
• Initial focus of the Company is oncology, however the ACT® platform has potential across therapeutic areas (infectious diseases, CNS, immunotherapy) and product classes.
About Per Walday, PhD
In his most recent role, Dr Walday served as Chief Executive officer of PCI Biotech. Prior to this he spent 17 years with Nycomed and GE Healthcare. In his role as Global Head of Project Management at GE Healthcare he had responsibility for project management of all pharmaceutical product development for mainstream diagnostic drugs found in the market today. It was during his time at GE Healthcare that Dr. Walday worked alongside the founders of EXACT Therapeutics and some of the Board members. Dr. Walday has a deep insight and long experience in the pharmaceutical industry and product development, ranging from preclinical research to registration, production and commercialization of new products. He holds a Ph. D. in physiology from the University of Oslo.
Forward looking statements
This announcement and any materials distributed in connection with this announcement may contain certain forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they reflect the Company's current expectations and assumptions as to future events and circumstances that may not prove accurate. A number of material factors could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by this forward-looking statement.