| Paris/London, December 3, 2001 — Jean Luc Belingard has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Beaufour Ipsen, the fifth largest French pharmaceutical company, by the Board of Directors, effective January 2, 2002, hence succeeding Stéphane François. In this capacity, he will drive Beaufour Ipsen towards new challenges. In particular, Jean-Luc Belingard will implement a strategy based on alliances and co-operations with other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, leading to an initial public offering towards 2003. |   |
Given Jean-Luc Belingard's wide ranging experience and expertise, the Board of Directors of Beaufour Ipsen expresses full confidence that he can deliver on his ambitious growth plans for the company, whilst maintaining its identity and core values. Jean-Luc Belingard's track record will confer Beaufour Ipsen an ever stronger dynamism in the years to come.
Jean-Luc Belingard, 53, a graduate from HEC, the premier French business school, who holds an MBA from Cornell University. He has spent the past 27 years in the pharmaceutical industry, successively with Merck & Co (1974-81), Roche (1981-99) and more recently with bioMérieux-Pierre Fabre, the third largest French pharmaceutical company.At Roche, Jean-Luc Belingard was the youngest management board chairman within the group, at the helm of the French affiliate (1983-90), and the youngest group executive committee member (1990-99) heading the diagnostics division which was made into the world's leading diagnostics company during his tenure, notably through the acquisition of the PCR technology from Cetus Corp in 1991 and the acquisition and successful integration of Boehringer Mannheim in 1997. In addition, from his time at Roche, Jean-Luc Belingard has been elected to, and still sits on the Boards of Directors of Celera Genomics (US) and Laboratory Corporation of America (US), as well as that of French biotechnology company Exonhit Therapeutics. Jean-Luc Belingard joined Pierre Fabre in 1999 as Vice-Chairman and CEO, and following the merger with bioMérieux in 2000, he became Chief Executive Officer of the newly-created bioMérieux-Pierre Fabre.
Beaufour Ipsen: Facts & Figures 2000
Sales (Euros): 653 million Euros including 352 million Euros outside of France
Number of employees: 3,440 including 1,770 outside of France
Worldwide direct presence in over 30 countries
4 Research and Development Centers: Paris, Boston, Barcelona, London
12 manufacturing sites: France, Europe, China
5 therapeutic categories:
— Endocrinology/Oncology
— Neurosciences
— Haematology
— Cardiovascular
— Gastro-intestintal tract
Worldwide leadership in extraction technologies:
— clay-based products
— Ginkgo biloba
World-class drug delivery expetise in peptides
R&D focus on 5 major areas:
— Endocrinology
— Oncology
— Metabolic diseases
— Neurosciences
— Haematology
Source: Ipsen
