Xbrane Biopharma strengthens its management team to better equip the company for commercialization of its biosimilars and Paolo Sarmientos steps out of the management team.

Xbrane Biopharma is advancing its portfolio of biosimilars with targeted launch of leading product Xlucane (Lucentis biosimilar) in 2022. To better equip the company for commercialization of its biosimilars Xbrane strengthens its management team with Regulatory Affairs, Manufacturing and Supply Chain and Business Development competences.

The new team members are Maria Edebrink, Anders Wallström, Xiaoli Hu and Paolo Sarmientos.

Maria Edebrink

Maria Edebrink, Head of Regulatory Affairs, will form part of the management team as of February 21st 2020. She joined Xbrane during 2019 as Head of Regulatory Affairs and has since then led the preparatory work for Marketing Authorization Application for Xlucane in Europe and the US. Maria has altogether over 28 years of experience from Pharmaceutical Development and Regulatory Affairs from AstraZeneca, Galderma and Medivir. Maria has been instrumental in the development, approval and maintenance of regulatory approvals of multiple pharmaceutical and medical device products, amongst them Brilinta/Brilique at AstraZeneca currently generating annual sales of USD 1.5 billion. Maria holds a M. Sc. in Chemistry from Stockholm University.

Anders Wallström

Anders Wallström, Head of Manufacturing and Supply Chain, will form part of the management team as of February 21st 2020. He joined Xbrane during 2019 as Head of Manufacturing and Supply Chain and has since worked with the establishment of the commercial supply chain for Xlucane. Anders has over 19 years of experience from process development, manufacturing and validation of biological products at SOBI and Biovitrum. In Anders last role at SOBI he was end-to-end supply chain director for specialty care products including Kineret and Orfadin. Anders holds a M.Sc. in Biotechnology from Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

Xiaoli Hu

Xiaoli Hu, recently recruited as Head of Business Development, will join Xbrane and form part of the management team as of May 1st 2020. She brings strong deal-making capabilities to Xbrane and will be primarily responsible for the establishment of new partnerships for commercialization of Xbrane’s pre-clinical biosimilars. Xiaoli has gained first-hand experience in business development from the pharmaceutical industry, most recently as Business Development Director at Affibody, where she led the work towards the USD 650 million commercial partnership deal with Alexion and the co-development deal with GE Healthcare. Prior to that, Xiaoli spent nearly four years at HealthCap, a leading Nordic Healthcare investor. During her tenure at HealthCap, she has joined and completed investment transactions across various geographies and stages of development. Xiaoli received her Medical Doctor degree from Shanghai Jiaotong University, and holds a PhD in Medical Science from Karolinska Institute.

Paolo Sarmientos steps down

Paolo Sarmientos, Head of long-acting injectables and CEO of Xbrane’s subsidiary Primm Pharma, will, provided Xbrane’s strategic focus on biosimilars, no longer form part of the management team as of February 21st 2020.

Maris Hartmanis declines re-election for 2020

Maris Hartmanis has declined re-election at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2020. The Nomination Committee will propose a replacing board member and this will be published in connection with the notice to the AGM.

Anders Tullgren, Xbrane’s Chairman of the Board, comments: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank Maris for his work on the Board since 2015. His involvement and expertise have been crucial in Xbrane’s journey from being a private company to the listing at Nasdaq Stockholm.”