Dr. Philip Just Larsen Appointed Chief Scientific Officer (CSO)

AACHEN, Germany, April 23, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Grünenthal announced today that Philip Just Larsen has been appointed Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) and Member of the Corporate Executive Board. He will assume leadership of Grünenthal's research and development organization on 1 July 2018. Currently, Philip holds the role of Global Head of Diabetes Research and Translational Medicine and Chief Scientific Officer at Sanofi's German Hub in Frankfurt.

Philip is a senior leader with extensive experience in drug discovery and development including successful transition into the clinic. He is a Medical Doctor trained in internal medicine and neurology, has been awarded a PhD in Neuroscience/Endocrinology and held international management positions in research and development at Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. Some of the key highlights of his career include the foundation and leadership of Rheoscience A/S, a biopharmaceutical company, as well as personal involvement in the development of three breakthrough medicines - Victoza^®/Saxenda^®, Lyxumia^®, and Trulicity^®.

Philip is a Danish national and a truly international executive with work experience in his home country, the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. He speaks Danish, English and German, is married and has two children.

"Philip Just Larsen will enrich Grünenthal with his outstanding scientific curiosity, his experience in leading discovery and development groups and his willingness to foster collaboration within and outside of our R&D organization. Throughout his career he brought life-changing medicines to patients," Gabriel Baertschi, CEO Grünenthal, said. "We are delighted to welcome Philip as new member of the Corporate Executive Board, as we gain a passionate leader who will make every effort to push our organization forward and secure our long-term success," Dr. Wilhelm Moll, Chairman of the Supervisory Board Grünenthal, added.

"I am very much looking forward to joining Grünenthal. The company is committed to research and development and bringing innovation to patients. As an MD PhD with clinical neurology expertise, I have first-hand experience in pain management, the core competence at Grünenthal. I am thrilled to contribute to the development of innovative medicines for high unmet medical needs in pain," Philip Just Larsen said.

About Grünenthal  

Grünenthal is an entrepreneurial, science-based pharmaceutical company specialized in pain, gout and inflammation. Our ambition is to deliver four to five new products to patients in diseases with high unmet medical need by 2022 and become a €2 bn company. We are a fully integrated research & development company with a long track record of bringing innovative pain treatments and state-of-the-art technologies to patients. By sustainably investing in our R&D above the industrial average, we are strongly committed to innovation.

Grünenthal is an independent, family-owned company headquartered in Aachen, Germany. We are present in 32 countries with affiliates in Europe, Latin America and the US. Our products are sold in more than 155 countries and approx. 5,200 employees are working for Grünenthal worldwide. In 2017, Grünenthal achieved revenues of approx. €1.3 bn.

More information: http://www.grunenthal.com

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For further information, please contact:
Štěpán Kráčala, Head Global Communications
Tel.: +49-241-569-1335, Stepan.Kracala@grunenthal.com
Grünenthal GmbH, 52099 Aachen, Germany