UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Form 8-K
Current Report
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): September 30, 2014
RETROPHIN, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Delaware | 001-36257 | 27-4842691 | ||
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation) |
(Commission File Number) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | ||
| 777 Third Avenue, 22nd Floor, New York, NY | 10017 | |||
| (Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) | |||
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (646) 837-5863
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:
| ¨ | Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) |
| ¨ | Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) |
| ¨ | Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) |
| ¨ | Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)) |
| Item 5.02 | Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers. |
On September 30, 2014, the Board of Directors of Retrophin, Inc. (the “Company”) appointed Stephen Aselage as the Company’s interim Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately, to replace Martin Shkreli, the Company’s founder and Chief Executive Officer.
Prior to his appointment as the Company’s interim Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Aselage, age 63, previously served as the Company’s President and Chief Operations Officer since May 2014, and has served as a director of the Company since December 2012. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Aselage served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer at BioMarin, a biotechnology company, from December 2009 through September 2012. From July 2005 to December 2009, Mr. Aselage served as BioMarin’s Senior Vice President of Global Commercial Development. From February 2004 to June 2005, Mr. Aselage served as Executive Vice President of Global Commercial Operations at Cell Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on cancer therapeutics. From September 2003 to January 2004, Mr. Aselage served as Senior Vice President of North American Sales and Marketing for the Transplant Division of Genzyme Corporation, a biotechnology company, following Genzyme’s acquisition of Sangstat Medical Corporation where he had worked since February 1999. While at Sangstat, Mr. Aselage restructured the company’s sales, marketing and medical affairs groups. From 1996 through 1999, Mr. Aselage served as Director of Sales and Marketing at Advanced Tissue Sciences, a biotechnology company. Earlier in his career, Mr. Aselage held a variety of sales and sales management positions at biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies including Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Pharmaceuticals (now Sanofi-Aventis), Genentech, Inc., and Bristol Laboratories, a biopharmaceutical company. Mr. Aselage holds a B.S. in biology from the University of Notre Dame.
| Item 9.01. | Financial Statements and Exhibits. |
| (d) | Exhibits. |
| 99.1 | Press Release of Retrophin, Inc. dated September 30, 2014. | |
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
| RETROPHIN, INC. | ||||
| Dated: October 1, 2014 | By: | /s/ Stephen Aselage | ||
| Name: | Stephen Aselage | |||
| Title: | Interim CEO | |||
Exhibit 99.1
| Contact: | ||
| Retrophin, Inc. | Retrophin, Inc. | |
| Marc Panoff, CFO | Chris Cline, Manager, Investor Relations | |
| 646-564-3671 | 646-564-3680 | |
| marc@retrophin.com | IR@retrophin.com | |
Retrophin Announces Leadership Reorganization
Stephen Aselage named interim CEO
New York, NY (September 30, 2014) – Retrophin, Inc. (NASDAQ: RTRX) today announced a leadership reorganization under which the Board of Directors has appointed Stephen Aselage as interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective immediately, to replace Martin Shkreli, Founder and CEO.
“The Retrophin Board is grateful to Martin for his creativity, energy, and vision over the past three years. In a remarkably short time, he built a world-class management team and created a thriving biopharmaceutical company that has improved the lives of patients with rare diseases,” said Steve Richardson, Chairman of the Board of Directors.
“I am excited about the direction and future of Retrophin,” said Aselage. “We have three marketed products with a growing revenue base and multiple development candidates, both internal and external, to accelerate future growth. We will aggressively pursue business development opportunities and push our existing pipeline forward, building upon our solid financial platform. I look forward to working with the Retrophin employees to increase the company’s momentum and generate significant value for shareholders.”
Dr. Alvin Shih, Executive Vice President of Research & Development for Retrophin, stated, “I am confident in our current pipeline and my team and I remain committed to creating meaningful treatments for patients with catastrophic unmet medical needs.”
The Company intends to appoint additional independent directors with robust industry experience in the near term, and discussions with candidates are ongoing. The Board will soon commence a search for a permanent CEO.
About Retrophin
Retrophin is a pharmaceutical company focused on the development, acquisition and commercialization of drugs for the treatment of serious, catastrophic or rare diseases for which there are currently no viable options for patients. The Company’s approved products include Chenodal®, Thiola® and Vecamyl®, and its pipeline includes compounds for several catastrophic diseases, including focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration (PKAN), schizophrenia, infantile spasms, nephrotic syndrome and others. For additional information, please visit www.retrophin.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, regarding the research, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products. Without limiting the foregoing, these statements are often identified by the words “may”, “might”, “believes”, “thinks”, “anticipates”, “plans”, “expects”, “intends” or similar expressions. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as there are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, many of which are beyond our control. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Investors are referred to the full discussion of risks and uncertainties as included in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.