Protagen expands Supervisory Board to support the development and commercialisation of its protein biochips

New Jersey, USA and Dortmund, Germany 6 June 2007 – Protagen AG, a leading provider of products, services and software solutions for protein research, has appointed Professor Theodor Dingermann to its Supervisory Board. Prof. Dingermann has been Managing Director of the Institute for Pharmaceutical Biology, at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, Frankfurt-am-Main since 1991. His extensive experience in pharmaceutical research and development will support Protagen in its development and commercialisation of new analysis tools based on protein biochips.

Alongside his teaching responsibilities at the university, Prof. Dingermann has spent many years engaged in the commercialisation of scientific discoveries. In 1985 he founded PharmaCon GmbH, an independent contract research organisation with a focus on anti-tumour therapy and he continues to work for the company as an associate/partner. He also founded Phenion GmbH, a biological research business that specialises, amongst other things, in developing methods for in vitro testing that can help reduce the reliance on use of animals.

Prof. Dingermann currently sits on the Supervisory Board of Innovectis GmbH, a technology services company. He was also a member of the Supervisory Board at Cilian AG between 2001 and 2005. A member of numerous regulatory bodies, Prof. Dingermann chairs the biopharmaceuticals committee of the German regulatory authority, the BfArM, and has been on the scientific advisory board at the BfArM since 2007. Prof. Dingermann is also Editor-in-Chief of the international journals, Die Pharmazie and Pharmazie in unserer Zeit, and has authored and edited many reference books in the areas of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and pharmacy.

Commenting on the appointment, Dr Christoph Hüls, CEO Protagen, said: “We are delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Dingermann to the Supervisory Board. He is a well-known expert in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, and his knowledge and expertise will be invaluable in the commercialisation of our protein biochip products.”

Prof. Dingermann’s appointment fills the sixth place on the Board, which is a requirement of German law. The Board otherwise remains unchanged with Professor Axel Kleeman, a longstanding member of the Executive Board at ASTA Medica, as Chairman and Professor Helmut E. Meyer, co-founder of Protagen as Deputy Chairman. Capital market experts, Michael Motschmann, Gerhard Steinkamp and Holger Clemens Hinz make up the remaining three members.

About Protagen AG
Protagen (www.protagen.com) is a leading provider of products, services and software solutions for protein research. Operating internationally to provide customers with products and services of the highest quality, Protagen has offices in Dortmund, Germany and New Jersey, USA. The Company has a decade of experience in applying the most advanced protein research tools and techniques to improve the efficiency of the drug discovery and development process.
As an innovator in protein biochips, Protagen has developed UNIclone®, a patent protected platform for protein expression libraries and protein arrays, and UNIchip®, a versatile and highly efficient series of protein biochip products for antibody development. In addition, it has established UNIarrayTM, a highly efficient technology platform for biomarker discovery on an industrial scale. Protagen has recently received a BioChance Plus grant from the German government to identify biomarkers for Multiple Sclerosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Protagen provides customers with a flexible service program, including protein analysis and identification, differential protein display, antibody validation and specification, antigen identification, and full data management services.
Protagen AG is privately owned and has closed two financing rounds: at the end of 2004 and in spring 2006. Shareholders of Protagen AG, besides the founders and the management team, are S-Venture Capital Dortmund GmbH and MIG AG & Co KG Beteiligungsfonds 1 and 3.

Contact
Dr. Christoph Hüls
CEO
Protagen AG
Otto-Hahn-Str. 15
44227 Dortmund
Germany
Tel: 49 (0) 231 9742 6300
Fax: 49 (0) 231 9742 6301
E-Mail: info@protagen.de

For media enquiries
Dr. Holger Bengs
Biotech Consulting
Tel: 49 (0)69 6199 4273
Fax: 49 (0)69 6199 4249
E-Mail: info@holgerbengs.de

This release was published on openPR.