Exiqon Appoints President and General Manager of new US Operations

Exiqon A/S has announced the appointment of Michael Kallelis as President and General Manager of Exiqon’s new US operations.

Mr. Kallelis will have the overall responsibility for launching and operating Exiqon’s US office to be located in the Boston area.

A key focus of the new facility will be to expand the sales force to support Exiqon’s miRCURY™ microRNA detection products.

Before joining Exiqon, Mr. Kallelis served as a Vice President at Archemix Corp and prior to that as the Executive Vice President and General Manager of Avecia Biotechnology.

He also served as Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Boston BioSystems, a leading GMP manufacturer of oligonucleotides, which was acquired by Avecia in 1999.

Over his career, Mr. Kallelis has acquired significant expertise in rapidly building up new businesses from start-up to commercially viable enterprises and has taken a lead management role in mergers and acquisitions.

"Mike possesses the commercial and operational leadership skills which will secure a strong launch of Exiqon’s US operations," said Lars Kongsbak, President and CEO of Exiqon.

"Mike also has extensive experience managing technical life science companies and brings the perfect blend of sales, marketing and operations roles that make him a good match for Exiqon’s growing business."

"During 2005, Exiqon has continued to grow its product sales, quarter to quarter, and a full presence in the US market is an obvious next step," said Jack Johansen, Chairman of the Board of Exiqon. "We are very pleased to have Mike lead this important operation."

Exiqon’s new offices will be located in the Boston area to take full advantage of the life science labor pool and large biotech presence.

The new US office plans to begin recruiting its sales staff and administrative support roles immediately. The site will be operational in the first quarter of this year.