(Alliance News) - Verona Pharma PLC on Monday said former Dova Pharmaceuticals Inc boss David Zaccardelli has been appointed as president & chief executive officer.
Shares in clinical-stage biopharmaceutical firm Verona were down 10% at 47.25 pence in London in afternoon trading.
In addition, Dova's former chief financial officer, Mark Hahn, will join as CFO. This will be a non-board position and is effective from March 1. Hahn has also been CFO at Cempra Inc.
Piers Morgan will continue as CFO until February 28 "to provide an efficient transition and complete required financial reporting," Verona said.
Zaccardelli was president and CEO of Dova until it was bought by Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB in November 2019. His other previous roles include chief operating officer at United Therapeutics Corp.
Zaccardelli's appointment is effective from Friday last week and he replaces Jan-Anders Karlsson, who departs as CEO after eight years with the company.
Hahn and Zaccardelli will both be based in North Carolina, US, where most of Verona's clinical team are located.
Verona Chair David Ebsworth said: "We are very pleased to have both Dr Zaccardelli and Mr Hahn join Verona Pharma. They are highly experienced leaders with a proven track record of working together to create significant value for shareholders. We believe we have a strong team in place to lead Verona Pharma into its next phase of growth. The team will focus on the US and worldwide opportunities to help COPD patients in need of additional treatment."
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
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