NewAmsterdam Pharma Announces Appointment of Mark C.

NAARDEN, The Netherlands and MIAMI, July 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — NewAmsterdam Pharma Company NV (Nasdaq: NAMS or “NewAmsterdam” or the “Company”), a late-stage clinical development biopharmaceutical company developing non-statin oral therapies for patients at risk of cardiovascular disease (“CVD”) with elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (“LDL-C”) for whom existing therapies are not sufficiently effective or well tolerated, today announced the appointment of Mark C. McKenna and Wouter Joustra to its Board of Directors. Mr. McKenna and Mr. Joustra have joined as interim non-executive directors to fill vacancies on the Board of Directors until their proposed appointment by a general meeting of shareholders at the next annual general meeting. Additionally, NewAmsterdam announced that Sander Slootweg will retire from its board of directors as of July 16, 2024.

“On behalf of the NewAmsterdam team, we are pleased to welcome Wouter and Mark to our Board of Directors. Wouter’s strategic leadership in Forbion’s go-to-market public investment strategy and his history at NewAmsterdam will be valuable as we approach anticipated milestone Phase 3 data readouts from multiple ongoing clinical trials. We also look forward to leveraging Mark’s distinguished career and extensive experience in building a world-class organization as we approach these anticipated milestones,” said Michael Davidson, MD, Chief Executive Officer of NewAmsterdam. “The Board and I would like to express our collective gratitude to Sander for his contributions and dedication to the organization’s success. We wish him all the best as he focuses his attention on Forbion’s venture investments.”

Mr. McKenna brings more than 20 years of pharmaceutical industry experience and executive leadership to the NewAmsterdam Board. He is the founder, chairman and CEO of Mirador Therapeutics, Inc. and currently serves as chairman of the board of Apogee Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: APGE) and a director of Spyre Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: SYRE). Additionally, Mr. McKenna serves as a venture partner at Arch Venture Partners and as a senior advisor to Fairmount Funds. Previously, Mr. McKenna served as president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Prometheus Biosciences, Inc., which was acquired by Merck & Co., Inc. in June 2023 for approximately $10.8 billion. Previously, Mr. McKenna was a corporate officer of Bausch Health and served as president of its subsidiary, Salix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to Salix Pharmaceuticals, Mr. McKenna spent more than a decade in various positions at Bausch + Lomb, also a division of Bausch Health, most recently as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the U.S. Vision Care business. Mr. McKenna was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2023 and holds a B.A. in Marketing from Arizona State University and an M.B.A. from Azusa Pacific University.

“I have been fortunate to serve companies at the forefront of innovation throughout my career, witnessing firsthand the profound impact on patients and families,” said Mr. McKenna. “With multiple Phase 3 trial readouts on the horizon and an exemplary management team at the helm, I believe NewAmsterdam is well-positioned to make a significant impact on the CVD landscape. I look forward to working with the management team and board to help the company achieve its mission.”

Mr. Joustra brings to NewAmsterdam many years of industry management experience, as well as in-depth experience in capital markets and life science investments. Mr. Joustra is a General Partner at Forbion, a leading global life science venture capital firm with deep expertise in Europe. At Forbion, Mr. Joustra’s responsibilities include deal origination, overall portfolio management and sales strategies, with a focus on the Forbion Growth Opportunities Funds, which invest in late-stage life science companies. Prior to joining Forbion in 2019, Mr. Joustra was a Senior Trader and Board Member of the Life Sciences franchise at Kempen, a European boutique investment bank. In this role, he managed the bank’s trading portfolio and was involved in deal structuring and capital markets transactions as well as larger block trades.

Mr. Joustra previously served on the boards of several companies, including: Gyroscope Therapeutics Holdings plc until its acquisition by Novartis AG in February 2022, VectivBio AG (Nasdaq: VECT) from December 2022 until its acquisition by Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in December 2023, Aiolos Bio, Inc. until its acquisition by GSK plc in February 2024, and Forbion European Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company, until its business combination with enGene Holdings Inc. in October 2023.

Mr. Joustra currently serves on the board of VectorY Therapeutics, Beacon Therapeutics and enGene Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: ENGN). He holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Groningen and a Bachelor of Science in International Business and Management from the same university.

“I am pleased to join the board at this exciting time in NewAmsterdam’s history and continue Forbion’s contributions to the company,” said Mr. Joustra. “Based on the clinical data to date, I believe that obicetrapib has the potential to play a critical role in the treatment of lipid-lowering and cardiovascular disease in millions of patients worldwide if approved. I have had the opportunity to work closely with NewAmsterdam’s board and team for over three years and, together with the Forbion team, I look forward to continuing to support the company’s important efforts to improve patient care.”

About New Amsterdam

NewAmsterdam Pharma (Nasdaq: NAMS) is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company with a mission to improve patient care in populations with metabolic diseases for which currently approved therapies have not been appropriate or well tolerated. We seek to address the significant unmet need for a safe, well tolerated and convenient LDL-lowering therapy. NewAmsterdam is investigating obicetapib, an oral, low-dose, once-daily CETP inhibitor, in multiple Phase 3 studies, as monotherapy or as a fixed dose in combination with ezetimibe, as an LDL-C-lowering therapy to be used as an adjunct to statin therapy in patients at risk of CVD with elevated LDL-C levels who are inadequately effective or well tolerated by existing therapies.

Forward-looking statements

Certain statements in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements for purposes of the Safe Harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by words such as “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “should,” “would,” “plan,” “predict,” “potential,” “appear,” “seek,” “future,” “outlook” and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company’s business and strategic plans, the Company’s commercial opportunities, the therapeutic and treatment potential of the Company’s product candidate, the Company’s clinical trials and the timing of patient recruitment, the timing and forums for data releases, the achievement and timing of regulatory approvals, and commercialization plans. These statements are based upon various assumptions, whether or not set forth herein, and upon the current expectations of the Company’s management and are not predictions of actual results. These forward-looking statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as, and should not be relied upon as, a guarantee, assurance, forecast or final statement of fact or probability. Actual events and circumstances are difficult or impossible to predict and may differ from these assumptions. Many actual events and circumstances are beyond the Company’s control. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including changes in domestic and foreign business, market, financial, political and legal conditions; risks related to the approval of the Company’s product candidate and the timing of expected regulatory and business milestones, including potential commercialization; the ability to negotiate definitive contractual arrangements with potential customers; the impact of competitive product candidates; the ability to obtain sufficient supplies of materials; global economic and political conditions, including the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts; the impact of competition on the Company’s future operations; and factors described in the Company’s public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additional risks related to the Company’s business include, but are not limited to: uncertainties regarding the results of the Company’s ongoing clinical trials, particularly with respect to regulatory review and potential approval of its product candidate; risks related to the Company’s efforts to commercialize its product candidate; the Company’s ability to negotiate and enter into definitive agreements on favorable terms, if at all; the impact of competitive product candidates on the Company’s business; intellectual property claims; the Company’s ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; and the ability to continue to obtain raw materials for its product candidate. If any of these risks materialize or the Company’s assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. There may be additional risks that the Company does not currently know about or that the Company currently believes to be immaterial, which could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s expectations, plans or projections regarding future events and views as of the date hereof and are qualified in their entirety by reference to the cautionary statements contained herein. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments could cause the Company’s assessments to change. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a reflection of the Company’s assessment as of any date subsequent to the date of this release. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries undertakes any obligation to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Contact with the company
Matthew Philippe
Phone: 1-917-882-7512
[email protected]

Contact with the media
Spectrum Science on behalf of NewAmsterdam
Bryan Blatstein
Phone: 1-917-714-2609
[email protected]

Contact for investors
Precision AQ on behalf of NewAmsterdam
Austin Murtagh
Phone: 1-212-698-8696
[email protected]