Pepscan Holding, the Netherlands-based biotechnology company focusing on protein mimicking technology for the generation of immune therapeutics, has announced that it has appointed Wim EM Mol PhD as new chief executive officer.

Dr Mol will be responsible for all of Pepscan’s corporate functions and the overall management and strategic direction of the company. He brings to Pepscan more than 20 years of management experience in the international pharmaceutical industry.

Dr Mol was previously at Schering Plough where he was vice president, responsible for the global scientific development and commercial strategy of a Phase III project in an alliance with a subsidiary of Merck-Serono. Dr Mol commented, “I look forward to working with the highly professional and talented team at Pepscan. It is exciting to contribute to the creation of new therapeutic antibodies against currently intractable targets, using manmade mimics of the biologically relevant part of the target.”

“Dr Mol has tremendous experience that will be very valuable to Pepscan. He has held multiple executive level roles, including general management positions in the USA and other countries, and executive director positions in global marketing and alliance management. With his track record as a result-driven leader, I am confident that he will bring Pepscan to the next level as a leading company in the field of protein mimicry, fully exploiting its proprietary CLIPS™ technology,” said Wim Jongen, chairman of the board.

Joost van Bree PhD, who has been fully supportive of the change in business focus towards CLIPS-based technology, has decided to step down as CEO and continue to work on the development of therapeutic vaccines. Mr Jongen said, “Joost has been instrumental in broadening the company portfolio and creating the momentum for growth. His contribution has been enormous and in this new phase of the company he will continue to focus on the successful development of the proprietary pipeline of the therapeutic vaccine portfolio.”