Healthcare
Biotechnology & Drugs
NASD: SANG
SangStat Medical Corp.
6300 Dumbarton Circle
Fremont, CA 94555
Mr. Jean Jacques Bienaime
Chairman, President,
Chief Executive Officer and
Chief Operating Officer
Interview conducted by:
Walter Banks, Co-Publisher
CEOCFOinterviews.com
April 2001
Bio of CEO
Jean-Jacques
Bienaimé was elected Chairman in October 2000. Before joining SangStat as President and
COO in 1998 and then CEO in 1999, Mr. Bienaimé was Senior Vice-President of Corporate
Marketing and Business Development at Rhône Poulenc Rorer Inc. (RPR), now Aventis. Since
1992 he held various positions of increasing responsibility within RPR’s US and
International marketing, sales and corporate strategy department, including full P&L
responsibility for a 650 person US organization with revenues of over $400 million.
Previously at Genentech, Mr. Bienaimé was responsible for launching Activase®, one of
the most successful biotechnology drug launches in the United States. Mr. Bienaimé
received his Masters of Business Administration from the Wharton School at the University
of Pennsylvania and a degree in Economics from Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris in
France. He is a member of the board of directors of Aerogen Inc. and of Fox Chase Cancer
Center in Philadelphia.
About
SangStat Medical Corp.
SangStat
is a global biotechnology company building on its foundation in transplantation to
discover, develop and market high value therapeutic products in the transplantation,
immunology and hematology/oncology areas. Since 1988, SangStat has been dedicated to
improving the outcome of organ and bone marrow transplantation through the development and
marketing of products to address all phases of transplantation in the worldwide market.
SangStat’s US headquarters are in Fremont California. SangStat also maintains a
strong European presence, including direct sales and marketing forces in France, Germany,
Italy, Spain, and the U.K., and distributors throughout the rest of the world.
SangStat’s stock is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol “SANG.” The
company’s web site is located at www.sangstat.com.
Key products:
Thymoglobulin®
[Anti-thymocyte Globulin (Rabbit)]: Thymoglobulin, a drug that
could prevent organ loss for kidney transplant recipients experiencing acute rejection, is
marketed by SangStat in both the US and Europe. Over 40,000 patients in 54 countries have
been treated with Thymoglobulin. While Thymoglobulin is approved in US only for
treatment of acute kidney rejection episodes, clinical trials being conducted to expand
indications, and in Europe it is also marketed for prophylaxis and rejection in kidney,
pancreas and liver transplants, treatment of rejection crisis and acute GVHD in bone
marrow transplant and aplastic anemia
Gengraf™
(cyclosporine capsules, USP [MODIFIED]) (product of Abbott Labs):
Gengraf is marketed for chronic immunosuppression. SangStat
and Abbott signed a multi-year co–promotion, distribution and research agreement in
May 1999. The companies co-promote Gengraf cyclosporine capsules in the United States.
Gengraf was launched May 15, 2000. Gengraf has been granted an AB rating by the FDA and is
bioequivalent to, and interchangeable with, Neoral® capsules (cyclosporine capsules, USP
[MODIFIED], Novartis), the leading cyclosporine capsules.
CEOCFOinterviews -
Mr. Bienaime, could you give us a brief history of SangStat Medical Corp.?
Mr. Bienaime: SangStat was started
about 12 years ago, and it has been a public company since 1993. It has about 280 people world wide, with about
half in the U.S. and half in Europe. Last
year, we reported sales of 81 million dollars, and have had very significant growth in the
past 4 years, from 4 million dollars in 1997 to the 81 million in 2000. SangStat is a
Biopharmaceutical company, which is global, fully integrated and entirely focused on the
field of immunology, immunosuppression. Our main area of activity right now is the use of
immunosuppression in solid organ transplantation and bone marrow transplantation.
CEOCFOinterviews – How long
have you been CEO of SangStat, what are the changes that you’ve implemented since
coming on board, and what effect have they had on the company?
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