PureTech Appoints Biocon Founder Kiran Shaw to BOD

1 October 2020

PureTech Health plc

PureTech Appoints Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Founder and Chairperson of a Leading Global Biopharmaceutical Company, to Board of Directors

PureTech Health plc (LSE: PRTC) ("PureTech"), a clinical stage biotherapeutics company dedicated to discovering, developing and commercialising highly differentiated medicines for devastating diseases, today announced the appointment of biotech entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw to its board of directors. Ms Shaw is an industry trailblazer who has spent her career surpassing societal expectations as the founder and chairperson of India's largest and a leading global biopharmaceutical company, Biocon Limited. Driven by a commitment to provide access to life-saving medicines worldwide, Ms Shaw brings extensive experience in biotherapeutics, strategic leadership, financial and business development and a dedication to improving patients' lives to PureTech's board of industry leaders.

"Kiran is a tremendously successful entrepreneur in healthcare and widely recognised as one of the most powerful and influential women in business. She also has a keen interest in improving the health of people around the world," said Christopher Viehbacher, chairman of PureTech's board of directors. "Kiran brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to PureTech's board as we enter this next exciting chapter of growth."

Ms Shaw is a pioneer of the biotechnology industry in India and a noted philanthropist who has devoted herself to building a sustainable model for delivering top-quality diabetes and cancer care at affordable prices. Since she founded Biocon, she has guided its growth from a leading bioenzymes company of India to a fully integrated and globally recognised multibillion-dollar biopharma company with extensive research efforts in oncology, diabetes and autoimmune disease. In addition to her leadership of Biocon, Ms Shaw chairs the Indian State of Karnataka's Vision Group on Biotechnology and is on the Advisory Council of the Indian government's Department of Biotechnology. She serves on the Board of Trustees at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Keck Graduate Institute (KGI). Ms Shaw is an independent director on the board of Infosys and Narayana Health. She is also an elected international member of the prestigious US National Academy of Engineering (NAE). 

Ms Shaw founded the Mazumdar Shaw Cancer Centre in Bangalore, which focuses on delivering affordable care. She is also the driving force behind the Biocon Foundation, which runs primary healthcare clinics to reach India's rural poor. Ms Shaw has received multiple industry accolades including being named among Forbes' World's 100 Most Powerful Women and World's Self-Made Women Billionaires, Fortune's Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Asia-Pacific, TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World, FierceBiotech's World's 25 Most Influential People in Biopharma, Scientific American's The Worldview 100 List of the most influential visionaries, Foreign Policy's 100 Leading Global Thinkers and the Medicine Maker Power List, a ranking of the 100 most influential people in medicine from across the globe. Ms Shaw was also declared the EY World Entrepreneur of 2020. She is a recipient of several national honours including the Padma Shri (1989) and Padma Bhushan (2005), two of India's most prestigious civilian awards, the Knight of the Legion d'Honneur, France (2016) and The Order of Australia (2020). Ms Shaw has a graduate degree in zoology from Bangalore University and has earned a master's degree in malting and brewing from Ballarat College, Melbourne University. She has received honorary doctorates from several institutions globally.

"I am thrilled to join the luminaries on PureTech's board at a time when the company is poised for rapid growth building on the many successes of recent years," Ms Shaw said. "With a unique and extremely productive approach towards the development of new medicines, the PureTech team has developed an impressive track record of pioneering new therapies, all of which could be transformational across a number of fields. With exciting programmes within its Wholly Owned Pipeline, PureTech has the potential to be truly disruptive in addressing serious diseases where there is significant need."

"Kiran is an entrepreneur and visionary who is credited with the conception, development and success of a highly respected and important biopharma enterprise," said Daphne Zohar, founder and chief executive officer of PureTech. "Her proven track record of entrepreneurial ingenuity and integrity along with her demonstrated business leadership position her as an excellent addition to PureTech's board of industry leaders. We are excited to work with her as we continue on our growth trajectory."

On joining the board, Ms Shaw will become a member of the board's Remuneration and Nomination Committees.

Additional Information

Ms Shaw is independent for the purposes of the UK Corporate Governance Code.

Ms Shaw has served as an independent director of Infosys (NYSE: INFY) since 2014.

Except as set out in this announcement, no disclosure obligations arise under paragraphs (1) to (6) of LR 9.6.13 of the Financial Conduct Authority's Listing Rules in connection with Ms Shaw's appointment.

About PureTech Health

PureTech is a clinical stage biotherapeutics company dedicated to discovering, developing and commercialising highly differentiated medicines for devastating diseases, including intractable cancers, lymphatic and gastrointestinal diseases, central nervous system disorders and inflammatory and immunological diseases, among others. The Company has created a broad and deep pipeline through the expertise of its experienced research and development team and its extensive network of scientists, clinicians and industry leaders. This pipeline, which is being advanced both internally and through PureTech's Founded Entities, is comprised of 24 products and product candidates, including two that have received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance and European marketing authorisation. All of the underlying programmes and platforms that resulted in this pipeline of product candidates were initially identified or discovered and then advanced by the PureTech team through key validation points based on the Company's unique insights into the biology of the brain, immune and gut, or BIG, systems and the interface between those systems, referred to as the BIG Axis.

For more information, visit www.puretechhealth.com or connect with us on Twitter @puretechh.

Forward Looking Statement

This press release contains statements that are or may be forward-looking statements, including statements that relate to the company's future prospects, growth, developments, and strategies. The forward looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance and achievements to differ materially from current expectations, including, but not limited to our expectations regarding the addition of Ms Shaw to our board of directors and those risks and uncertainties described in the risk factors included in the regulatory filings for PureTech Health plc. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions regarding the present and future business strategies of the company and the environment in which it will operate in the future. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as at the date of this press release. Except as required by law and regulatory requirements, neither the company nor any other party intends to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014.