XTL Biopharmaceuticals (LSE:XTL) today announced that Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:KERX; LSE:KRX) chairman and CEO Michael Weiss would join XTL's board of directors.
Since joining Keryx in December of 2002, Mr. Weiss successfully completed the restructuring of the company, an acquisition of a private cancer company, the initiation of a phase II/III clinical program for a lead drug candidate and two equity capital raising transactions of approximately $47 million from leading US-based biotechnology funds.
Weiss was formerly founder, chairman and CEO of ACCESS Oncology, Inc., a private company focused on in-licensing clinical stage compounds in the oncology area. Prior to that, Weiss was senior managing director at Paramount Capital, Inc., an investment banking firm focusing on the biotechnology sector, located in New York, USA. During his tenure from 1993 to 1999, he was responsible for negotiating and executing private and public investments in biotechnology companies, including Genta, Inc. (Nasdaq:GNTA), a publicly-traded biotechnology company, for which he managed a turnaround in 1997-1999. Weiss continues to serve on the board of directors of Genta.
Presumably, with his resume and connections with the US capital market, Weiss will be of great help to XTL, especially in raising capital in the future. Although Weiss is not a director on behalf of XTL's new controlling investors, who recently acquired 20% of the company, the new investors presumably recruited Weiss to serve on XTL's board. Some of XTL's new investors knew Weiss from previous investments, including in Keryx.
When Weiss took over Keryx, its share price on Nasdaq was just over $1, and it is now $12.50. While serving as CEO of Genta, its market cap rose from a few million dollars to $1.5 billion.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on November 30, 2004