Ascendis Pharma A/S Appoints Thomas A. Larson as Chief Commercial Officer

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, April 02, 2018 -- Ascendis Pharma A/S (Nasdaq:ASND), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company that applies its innovative TransCon technology to address significant unmet medical needs, today announced that the company has appointed Thomas A. Larson as Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. 

"Tom is joining the company as our best-in-class endocrinology rare diseases pipeline approaches commercialization," commented Jan Mikkelsen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ascendis Pharma. “Tom’s broad background includes more than 25 years of experience building and leading commercial organizations, as well as successfully launching products across the orphan drug and specialty markets. He joins our team as we are executing our plan to become a fully integrated rare disease company.”

Mr. Larson commented, “Ascendis is an exciting company that values advancing science and improving patients’ lives. I am pleased to join such a talented team as the company works to bring novel products towards approval and commercialization for patients with rare diseases. It is a privilege to join a company with such a unique technology driving a broad pipeline of differentiated products to address unmet needs.”

Mr. Larson has served as Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America since 2016. At Mitsubishi, he established the U.S. commercial organization and successfully launched the company’s first U.S. pharmaceutical product, Radicava^®, the first amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) therapy approved in the U.S. in over 20 years. From 2013 to 2016, Mr. Larson was a member of the commercial team for Marathon Pharmaceuticals, where he helped build the commercial infrastructure. Previously, he worked for Boehringer-Ingelheim and Johnson & Johnson, where he launched multiple products and oversaw various sales and marketing activities focused on hospital and specialty markets. Mr. Larson began his career at Abbott Laboratories in 1985, where he worked in research and development, sales, market access and marketing roles of increasing responsibility over his 18-year tenure, including leadership positions in the commercial organization supporting orphan drug, hospital, biologics and specialty products. Mr. Larson holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Northern Michigan University.

About Ascendis Pharma A/S

Ascendis Pharma is applying its innovative prodrug technology to build a leading, fully integrated rare disease company focused on making a meaningful difference in patients’ lives. The company utilizes its TransCon technology with clinically validated parent drugs to create new therapies with potential for best-in-class efficacy, safety and/or convenience.

Ascendis Pharma has a wholly-owned pipeline of three rare disease endocrinology programs, including once-weekly TransCon Growth Hormone, which is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 program for children with growth hormone deficiency (GHD), TransCon PTH, a long-acting prodrug of parathyroid hormone for hypoparathyroidism currently in a phase 1 trial, and TransCon CNP, a long-acting prodrug of C-type natriuretic peptide for achondroplasia. Additionally, Ascendis Pharma has multi-product collaborations with Sanofi in diabetes and Genentech in the field of ophthalmology.

For more information, please visit www.ascendispharma.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release regarding our future operations, plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. Examples of such statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to (i) our ability to apply our prodrug technology to build a leading, fully integrated rare disease company, (ii) the potential approval and commercialization of our product pipeline, (iii) our expectations regarding our ability to create therapies with potential for best-in-class efficacy, safety and/or convenience and (iv) our product pipeline. We may not actually achieve the plans, carry out the intentions or meet the expectations or projections disclosed in the forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions, expectations and projections disclosed in the forward-looking statements. Various important factors could cause actual results or events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements that we make, including the following: unforeseen safety or efficacy results in our TransCon Growth Hormone, TransCon PTH and TransCon CNP or other development programs; unforeseen expenses related to the development of TransCon Growth Hormone, TransCon PTH and TransCon CNP or other development programs, general and administrative expenses, other research and development expenses and our business generally; delays in the development of TransCon Growth Hormone, TransCon PTH and TransCon CNP or other development programs related to manufacturing, regulatory requirements, speed of patient recruitment or other unforeseen delays; dependence on third party manufacturers to supply study drug for planned clinical studies; and our ability to obtain additional funding, if needed, to support our business activities. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to our business in general, see our current and future reports filed with, or submitted to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2017, which we filed with the SEC on March 28, 2018. Forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future in-licensing, collaborations, acquisitions, mergers, dispositions, joint ventures, or investments we may enter into or make. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Internal contact:   
Scott T. Smith
Chief Financial Officer   
(650) 352-8389 
[email protected] 

Investor contact:
Patti Bank    
Westwicke Partners 
(415) 513-1284   
[email protected]     

Media contact:
Ami Knoefler
SparkBioComm
(650) 739-9952
[email protected]