Rehovot, Israel, and Bridgewater, NJ – May 16, 2016 – Foamix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (NASDAQ: FOMX), a clinical stage specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing proprietary topical foams to address unmet needs in dermatology, today announced the appointment of Stanley Hirsch, D. Phil., as Chairman, and Dalia Megiddo M.D. as a member of its Board of Directors.
Dr. Stanley Hirsch has 27 years of experience in executive positions in the healthcare and biotech industries. Dr. Hirsch received his D. Phil. from Oxford University in cell biology and immunology. He has extensive executive and board level experience in private and publicly listed companies on US and UK exchanges, as well as experience in raising capital and leading mergers and acquisitions. He has set up and managed companies and subsidiaries in Israel, Brazil, UK, China and the USA.
Dr. Hirsch replaces Mr. Meir Eini, a co-founder of Foamix Pharmaceuticals, who is retiring from the Board but will continue as the company’s Chief Innovation Officer and member of the Company’s Executive Management Committee, as well as maintaining responsibility for Investor Relations in Israel.
Dr. Hirsch has served as a member of Foamix’s Board since February 2005, where he had executive responsibility for European Business Development until December 2006. In this role, he was instrumental, inter alia, in executing the Company’s collaboration with Bayer Healthcare AG, which resulted in the development and commercialization of Finacea® Foam.
Currently, he is the CEO and a director of FuturaGene Ltd., an agricultural biotechnology company which has been the first and only company in the world to receive regulatory approval for the commercial deployment of yield enhanced, gene modified trees for the plantation forestry industry. Dr. Hirsch was CEO of FuturaGene during its four-year tenure on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, and managed its acquisition by Suzano Pulp and Paper of Brazil in an all-cash transaction.
Dr. Hirsch has also served as general manager of a drug development company, a pharmaceutical marketing company and two diagnostics development companies, and was responsible for business development for a privately held group of healthcare companies. Dr. Hirsch currently serves as a director of Biological Industries Ltd., a developer and manufacturer of bioprocess products. He formerly served as a director of SolGel and at additional private healthcare companies, as well as an advisor to venture capital funds.
Dr. Dalia Megiddo is an experienced healthcare and investment professional in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. She has co-founded a number of pharma companies, including Alcobra Ltd. (Nasdaq: ADHD), Bioblast-Pharma Ltd. (Nasdaq: ORPN) and Chiasma Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHMA). She currently serves as Managing Partner of Expedio Ventures, and previously ran other life science investment funds, including Jerusalem Global Ventures and 7-Health.
Dr. Megiddo serves as a director of Bioblast-Pharma Ltd. She formerly served as a director of Alcobra Ltd., AngioScore Inc., Chiasma (Israel) Ltd., Chiasma Inc., Given Imaging Ltd. (Nasdaq: GIVN) and Elron Electronic Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: ELRN)
Dr. Megiddo holds an M.D. in Medicine from Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and is a licensed specialist in family medicine. She also holds an M.B.A. degree from the Kellogg Recanati International School of Business (Tel Aviv University and North Western University).