Zwijnaarde, Belgium
June 1, 2007
Devgen NV (Euronext: DEVG), a leading European biotech
company, today announced the appointment of Pol Bamelis as
Chairman of the board.
Dr.Bamelis is a senior figure in the agro and pharma industry.
He holds board positions in a wide range of Belgian and foreign
companies and he is also a member of the board of the University
of Leuven. Dr.Bamelis was chairman of the Agfa group from 2002
until mid 2005 and of Crop Design in Ghent until mid 2006.
Dr. Bamelis retired from Bayer in 2001, after 36 years with the
company, including 10 years as a Board member with
responsibilities for Agro and Pharma R&D. Dr. Bamelis was one of
the main architects of Bayer's biotechnology strategy and was
closely involved in the company's biotech collaborations.
Pol Bamelis comments: "I am honoured and keen to contribute my
experience and network as chairman to help this promising
biotechnology company in the next growth stage."
Dr. Bamelis replaces Pierre Hochuli, who will leave the board
after 8 years of board membership of which the last 4 years as
chairman.
Pierre Hochuli concluded: "It was very rewarding to chair
Devgen's board of directors for several years and work with its
innovative management to lead the company from an "early stage"
enterprise to a successful public biotech company. I am
confident that Devgen, under the leadership of Dr. Bogaert and
Devgen's board, will capture significant positions in important
agricultural markets. I thank management and the board for their
support and constructive collaboration and wish the incoming
chairman, Dr. Bamelis and the Devgen community all the best for
the future."
Devgen is an innovator in biotechnology focused on
discovering, developing and commercializing:
- a novel generation of biotech products to protect a wide
spectrum of crops from damage incurred from pests;
innovative hybrid rice germplasm and traits focused on Indian
farmer's needs;
- safer and more environmentally friendly agro-chemical products
to protect crops from damage inflicted by plant parasitic
nematodes;
- novel therapeutic concepts and preclinical drug candidates for
treatment of metabolic disease (diabetes, obesity, arrhythmia)
and inflammation.
Devgen has partnerships with industry leaders in biotechnology
and agro chemistry. Incorporated in 1997, Devgen has offices in
Ghent (Belgium), Singapore and Hyderabad (India), with a total
work force of about 100 people. For more information on Devgen
visit the company's web site:
www.devgen.com. |
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