InDex Pharmaceuticals names Jesper Wiklund Chief Executive Officer
Jesper Wiklund has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of InDex Pharmaceuticals AB (InDex) as of September 1st, 2011. He will bring 17 years of international commercial experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry to InDex. He will succeed Svante Rasmuson, who has lead the company as co-founder and CEO since its founding in 2000.
Jesper Wiklund has worked in the United States for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Elan Pharmaceuticals as well as in Germany for Evotec. He joins InDex from Swedish Orphan Biovitrum where he has had responsibility for Business Development since 2009. Over the course of his career, Jesper Wiklund has completed strategic transactions with an aggregate value exceeding USD 700 million. In addition, he has entrepreneurial experience as co-founder and CEO of the eHealth company eLabsEurope AG where he raised EUR 30 million of venture capital financing and lead the company to a trade sale.
Jesper Wiklund was born in 1969. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a
Bachelor of Science in Biology from St. Mary’s College of California.
“The Board is very pleased to appoint Jesper Wiklund as CEO of InDex Pharmaceuticals”
said Wenche Rolfsen, the newly appointed Chairman of InDex Pharmaceuticals. “Jesper
brings a successful track record of deal execution and a wide industry network in Europe
and the United States to InDex. He also has a strong background in the orphan drug
market which is important as we bring our lead product Kappaproct, which has Orphan
Drug Designation in Europe, into phase III and towards the market.”
Jesper Wiklund stated “I am delighted to join InDex Pharmaceuticals. InDex is a well
funded company with a promising therapy commencing phase III studies in Ulcerative
Colitis. If proven effective, this treatment will meet a significant unmet medical need and
will dramatically improve the perspectives for patients suffering from the most severe form
of this debilitating disease. I look forward to working with the Board and the outstanding
people at InDex to build a company dedicated to improving the lives of patients and
driving value for shareholders.”
Wenche Rolfsen added “We would also like to thank Svante Rasmuson for his contributions to InDex Pharmaceuticals. We accept his desire to pursue new professional opportunities and wish him all the best in the future.”
About InDex Pharmaceuticals
InDex Pharmaceuticals AB is a privately owned company developing treatments for
immunological disorders. The main owners are SEB Venture Capital and Industrifonden.
The most advanced product is Kappaproct which will enter phase III studies in steroid
refractory Ulcerative Colitis patients in 2011. Kappaproct has been developed in-house as
part of the company’s proprietary platform, which also has generated a number of
preclinical assets targeting immunological disorders. The company is also developing a
companion diagnostic to Kappaproct as well as other diagnostic tools focused on
Inflammatory Bowel Disease such as DiBiCol, a recently introduced test for fast and easy IBD typing.
For more information, please contact:
Wenche Rolfsen, Chairman InDex Pharmaceuticals +46 (0)733 31 91 56
Svante Rasmuson, CEO InDex Pharmaceuticals +46 (0)708 63 93 31
Jesper Wiklund, appointed CEO InDex Pharmaceuticals +46 (0)733 59 05 53
Please visit: www.indexpharmab.com