Schlieren (Zurich), Switzerland - October 9, 2012, Schlieren (Zurich), Switzerland - Cytos Biotechnology Ltd, a biotech company, announced the appointment of Christian Itin as chief executive officer, effective November 2012.
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Dr. Itin is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Micromet Inc., a
previously Nasdaq-listed biopharmaceutical company, with headquarters in the USA and an
R&D center in Germany. Dr. Itin led Micromet as CEO from 2004 until Micromet’s acquisition
by Amgen in March 2012.
In total he spent 13 years in senior management roles at Micromet. Prior to joining Micromet in 1999, Dr. Itin co-founded Zyomyx, Inc., a protein chip company based in Hayward, CA, USA. Dr. Itin received a diploma in biology and a Ph.D. in cell biology from the University of
Basel. In addition, he performed post-doctoral research at the Biocenter of Basel University
and at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Thomas Hecht, Chairman of the Board of Directors, will step down from the Cytos Board at the extraordinary shareholders meeting in November.
Dr. Hecht has been a member of the Board of Directors since April 2003. Since April 2010 he is Chairman of the Board of Directors and since August 2011 he acts as Executive Chairman at Cytos Biotechnology. He was vice president marketing (hematology, oncology, new products) for Amgen (Europe) AG from 1999 until 2002.
Before this, he held different marketing and medical affairs positions at Amgen (Europe) AG, and at Amgen GmbH, Germany. He was co-head of the program for bone marrow transplantation, University of Freiburg i. Br., Germany, and worked as a physician at the University of Freiburg i. Br., Germany, for several years.
Today, he provides services to the pharmaceutical industry in medical/marketing development and licensing strategies through HHC, a biopharmaceutical consulting company founded in 2002. He serves as chairman of the boards of Affimed Therapeutics AG and Delenex Therapeutics AG and as chairman of the advisory board of SuppreMol GmbH. Dr. Hecht also serves as member of the board of Cellmedica Ltd.
Jakob Schlapbach, a Non-executive member of Cytos’ Board of Directors and the Company’s
former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (2000-2010), will also resign from
the Board of Directors at the extraordinary shareholders meeting in November.
Mr. Schlapbach, Lic. rer. pol. and MBA (INSEAD), has been Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Cytos Biotechnology from June 2000 until June 1, 2010. In April 2010 he was elected to the Board of Directors. He received his degree in Economics from the University of Berne in 1979, followed by an MBA at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France, in 1984. ■