Shire replaces retiring chairman with former banker
pharmafile | January 24, 2014 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Organogenesis, Shire, dermagraft, emmens, kilsby
Susan Kilsby is to be the new chairman at Shire and steps into Matthew Emmens’s role as he retires from the firm.
Emmens joined the company as chief executive in 2003 and became chairman of Shire in 2008. Kilsby joined the firm as a non-executive director in September 2011 following a career in investment banking.
In May last year she was appointed chairman of Shire’s Audit, Compliance & Risk committee and her current position is now to be filled by Dominic Blakemore.
Kilsby joins Shire at a tough time, the firm has just offloaded its Dermagraft business to US-based wound specialist Organogenesis just three years after purchasing it, a move that could incur a loss of $650 million.
Shire bought the company in 2011 and the Irish firm hoped Dermagraft would be a key figure in its regenerative medicines portfolio. But it suffered an almost immediate setback after the deal was struck, when Dermagraft failed a Phase III study for its potential use in the treatment of leg ulcers.
It was also hit in 2013 by a criminal investigation in the US which saw Shire take a $199 million write-down on its investment in Dermagraft amid plunging profits. Also there’s been the recent news concerning job cuts on the horizon.
Kilsby who starts the chairman role at the end of April and is also to become a member of Shire’s Nomination committee in February, will be keen to get the firm back on track.
Kilsby’s appointment could be seen as a refreshing one for pharma that has been accused in the past of being too male-orientated, as more men sit on company boards than females.
David Kappler, deputy chairman, senior independent non-executive director and chairman of Shire’s Nomination committee, said: “On behalf of all the board, I would like to thank Matt Emmens for his many contributions to Shire during the last decade. Susan will build on the strong current board dynamics and will make an excellent chairman.”
Emmens added: “Having worked with Susan on the board over the past few years I believe she is the ideal chairman for Shire as the company embarks on another new era of growth.”
Brett Wells
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