London, UK, 21 September 2023: BenevolentAI (Euronext Amsterdam: BAI), a leader in the development of advanced AI that accelerates biopharma discovery, announces that Joanna Shields has decided to step down as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and executive Board member to pursue other endeavours but will continue to support the Board and the Company as a strategic adviser.
The Board has initiated a search for her replacement.
Dr. François Nader, Chair of the Board of Directors, will today also assume the role of Acting Chief Executive Officer (Acting CEO) until a successor is appointed. Jean Raby, Senior Independent Director, will work closely with Dr. Nader to provide support during this period.
Dr François Nader, Chair and Acting CEO of BenevolentAI, commented:
“On behalf of the Board and the entire team at BenevolentAI, I want to extend our thanks to Joanna for her transformative five years as CEO. Under her leadership, BenevolentAI has become a leader in AI-augmented drug discovery and achieved significant commercial and development milestones.
BenevolentAI is committed to a growth strategy focused on expanding end-to-end drug discovery partnerships with pharma and biotechnology companies, developing our own pipeline of drug candidates, and providing life sciences companies with a suite of AI knowledge exploration tools that leverage our unique AI platform."
Joanna Shields, Chief Executive Officer of BenevolentAI, commented:
"I am immensely proud of the achievements of the exceptional team at BenevolentAI. Today, our AI-powered discovery platform has produced a strong portfolio of differentiated drug programmes, and our end-to-end discovery technology platform alongside our cutting-edge knowledge exploration tools are poised for commercial adoption. I eagerly anticipate what lies ahead for the Company, and as an adviser, I am looking forward to supporting the Company to achieve even greater success in the future.”
Enquiries:
Investors:
Fleur Wood – VP Investor Relations
fleur.wood@benevolent.ai
investors@benevolent.ai
T: +44(0) 203 781 9360
Media:
Rajin Kang - VP Communications
rajin.kang@benevolent.ai
T: +44(0) 203 781 9360
FTI Consulting:
Ben Atwell/Simon Conway/Victoria Foster Mitchell
T: +44 203 727 1000
BenevolentAI@fticonsulting.com
About BenevolentAI
BenevolentAI (AMS: BAI) is a leading, clinical-stage AI-enabled drug discovery and development company listed on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange. Through the combined capabilities of this AI platform, its scientific expertise, and wet-lab facilities, BenevolentAI is well-positioned to deliver novel drug candidates with a higher probability of clinical success than those developed using traditional methods. The Benevolent Platform™ powers the Company’s in-house drug pipeline and supports successful collaborations with AstraZeneca, as well as leading research and charitable institutions.
Forward-looking Statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and may be identified by words such as "plans", "targets", "aims", "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "will", "may", "should" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding objectives, goals, strategies, outlook and growth prospects; future plans, events or performance and potential for future growth; economic outlook and industry trends; developments in BenevolentAI’s markets; the impact of regulatory initiatives; and/or the strength of BenevolentAI’s competitors. These forward-looking statements reflect, at the time made, BenevolentAI’s beliefs, intentions and current targets/aims. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon various assumptions based on, without limitation, management's examination of historical operating trends, data contained in BenevolentAI’s records, and third-party data. Although BenevolentAI believes these assumptions were reasonable when made, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond BenevolentAI’s control. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and such risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors could cause the actual outcomes and the results of operations, financial condition and liquidity of BenevolentAI or the industry to differ materially from those results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. No representation or warranty is made that any of these forward-looking statements or forecasts will come to pass or that any forecast result will be achieved.
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