Nes-Ziona, Israel, Oct. 24, 2019 — Enlivex Therapeutics, Ltd., a clinical-stage immunotherapy company, today announced the appointment of Dr. Oren Hershkovitz as Chief Executive Officer, effective November 16, 2019. Dr. Hershkovitz served for nearly a decade in managerial and executive roles at PROLOR Biotech, Inc. and OPKO Biologics, Ltd., the biotech subsidiary of OPKO Health, Inc. acting as General Manager of OPKO Biologics for the past four years. Dr. Hershkovitz successfully managed more than 70 employees and led manufacturing, non-clinical and clinical development for various Phase I, II and III programs, including for obesity, hemophilia and growth hormone deficiency. Dr. Hershkovitz obtained his Ph.D. in immunology, with distinction, from Ben Gurion University in Israel.
Pfizer and OPKO Health announced on October 21, 2019 that PROLOR’s lead drug, Somatrogon, which was partnered to Pfizer in 2014, met the primary endpoint in a pivotal Phase III clinical trial. Mr. Shai Novik, Executive Chairman of Enlivex – who founded PROLOR and led the company through its acquisition by OPKO as well as the execution of the agreement with Pfizer – and Dr. Hershkovitz, are now joining forces again at Enlivex.
“We are pleased about the appointment of Dr. Hershkovitz as the new CEO of Enlivex,” stated Shai Novik, Executive Chairman. “I have had the pleasure of working together with Dr. Hershkovitz when he was part of my management team at PROLOR Biotech and watched him develop into one of the leading biotech executives in Israel today. While at PROLOR, we developed Somatrogon, sold the company to OPKO, licensed the product to Pfizer, and now post its successful Phase III we anticipate that, if approved by the regulators, the product will become a winner in the multi-billion dollar growth hormone therapy market. Taking into account Dr. Hershkovitz’s biotech executive experience, coupled with an impressive immunology background, we believe he is well-positioned to provide significant value in his CEO role and to further develop and execute the strategic and operating plan of Enlivex to become a leading immunotherapy company.
Commenting on his appointment, Dr. Hershkovitz said “I am excited to join Enlivex at a time in which it is getting ready to initiate two advanced clinical trials, one for the prevention of GvHD post BMT and one for the prevention of organ failure and mortality associated with sepsis. I believe that Enlivex possesses a unique combination of revolutionary science, a strong management team, and novel immunotherapy product that has the potential to change the lives of millions of patients around the world. I look forward to joining Enlivex’s strong management group and collaborating again with several of my PROLOR Biotech colleagues who are serving on the board of directors of Enlivex, as well as with Prof. Mevorach, the founder of Enlivex, who developed Enlivex’s innovative cell therapy.”
ABOUT ENLIVEX
Enlivex is a clinical stage immunotherapy company, developing an allogeneic drug pipeline for immune system rebalancing. Immune system rebalancing is critical for the treatment of life-threatening immune and inflammatory conditions which involve hyper-expression of cytokines (Cytokine Release Syndrome) and for which there are no approved treatments (unmet medical needs), as well as solid tumors immune-checkpoint rebalancing. For more information, visit http://www.enlivex.com.
Safe Harbor Statement: This press release contains forward-looking statements, which may be identified by words such as “expects,” “plans,” “projects,” “will,” “may,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “should,” “would”, “could,” “intends,” “estimates,” “suggests,” “has the potential to” and other words of similar meaning, including statements regarding expected cash balances, market opportunitiesfor the results of current clinical studies and preclinical experiments, the effectiveness of, and market opportunitiesfor, ALLOCETRATM programs. All such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may affect Enlivex’s business and prospects, including the risks that Enlivex may not succeed in generating any revenues or developing any commercial products; that the products in development may fail, may not achieve the expected results or effectiveness and/or may not generate data that would support the approval or marketing of these products for the indications being studied or for other indications; that ongoing studies may not continue to show substantial or any activity; and other risks and uncertainties that may cause results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. The results of clinical trials in humans may produce results that differ significantly from the results of clinical and other trials in animals. The results of early-stage trials may differ significantly from the results of more developed, later-stage trials. The development of any products using the ALLOCETRATM product line could also be affected by a number of other factors, including unexpected safety, efficacy or manufacturing issues, additional time requirements for data analyses and decision making, the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation, the impact of competitive products and pricing and the impact of patents and other proprietary rights held by competitors and other third parties. In addition to the risk factors described above, investors should consider the economic, competitive, governmental, technological and other factors discussed in Enlivex’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date the statements were made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable law.
ENLIVEX CONTACT:
Shachar Shlosberger, CFO
Enlivex Therapeutics, Ltd.
shachar@enlivexpharm.com
