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Compugen Appoints Martin Gerstel CEO Effective January 2009
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Compugen Ltd. announced the appointment of Mr. Martin Gerstel as president and chief executive officer, effective January 1, 2009. Mr. Gerstel, who has served as chairman of Compugen since 1997, will succeed current president and chief executive officer Mr. Alex Kotzer, who is retiring from his full time executive responsibilities. Mr. Kotzer will remain a director of the Company.
Mr. Gerstel stated, “We are highly appreciative of Alex’s efforts and accomplishments as president and CEO. During his tenure as CEO since 2005, he successfully led efforts to focus Compugen’s unique and broadly applicable predictive biology capabilities to develop a series of product discovery platforms in important fields such as peptide therapeutics.”
He continued, “As demonstrated by recent public disclosures, these platforms are now providing the basis for a wide range of product candidate discoveries and collaborative arrangements. Looking to the future, these accomplishments and the management team that was developed under his guidance and leadership will serve the Company well as it progresses towards achieving important medical contributions and substantial commercial success. In his ongoing role as a director, we will continue to benefit from Alex’s knowledge and experience.”
Mr. Kotzer stated, “I am very pleased with Compugen’s progress and positioning for the future, and honored to remain on its Board. I am sure that the transition of responsibilities to Martin will be seamless, and together with the Company’s strong management team and talented employees, Compugen can leverage the progress achieved to date to lead the Company to full commercial success.”
Prior to Mr. Gerstel becoming chairman of Compugen, he was co-chairman and CEO of ALZA Corporation, a California based pharmaceutical company which he helped found, and a member of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).
Currently Mr. Gerstel serves as a director of various private and public companies including Evogene Ltd. and Itamar Medical, and various educational and civic organizations including the Weizmann Institute of Science, the Hebrew University, the US Foundation for the National Medals of Science and Technology and the Israel-U.S. BiNational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation.
