Cathal Friel, Executive Chairman, Poolbeg Pharma. Image: Fergal Phillips
Poolbeg Pharma (POLB) , a clinical-stage biopharma company focused on infectious diseases, announced the appointment of co-founder and major shareholder Cathal Friel as Executive Chairman of the company effective immediately. Poolbeg also announced a new Employee Performance Incentive Plan (EIP) for a number of its key senior management, to align medium and long-term objectives with those of shareholders, and to encourage retention.
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Cathal Friel brings to Poolbeg substantial experience in M&A and investment banking, and a longstanding record of value creation in a number of public companies, including Amryt Pharma and hVIVO. Amryt went on to be acquired by Chiesi Farmaceutici for US$1.48bn in 2023 with a number of its key former staff recently joining Poolbeg.
More impressively, hVIVO's share price rose from 5.6p at IPO in 2019 to 28p under Friel's supervision. Friel stated his intention to remain focused on value creation at Poolbeg, aiming for the same growth trajectory in share price as hVIVO's. Friel's appointment elicited a highly positive reaction from markets, sending POLB shares 9% higher on Thursday.
Friel will work closely with Poolbeg's CEO Jeremy Skillington and the now expanded leadership team, focusing on Poolbeg's strategic initiatives, including its growing focus on rare and orphan diseases, while Skillington will continue his leadership of Poolbeg's clinical programmes and business development efforts alongside David Allmond.
Friel further stated that he would be a "very hands-on" Executive Chairman as he had been previously as Chairman of Poolbeg and Executive Chairman of hVIVO. Friel noted his recent sale of some hVIVO equity in order to purchase a larger stake in Poolbeg. He will maintain an active role at hVIVO, helping it achieve its medium-term target of £100m in revenue by 2028.
Separately, Poolbeg announced a new Employee Performance Incentive Plan (EIP) to reward, incentivise, and retain a number of key senior management, firmly aligning their interests with that of shareholders, to help deliver sustainable growth.
POLB shares have rallied 57% since November as the company advances an ambitious pipeline including POLB 001, which has a $10bn market opportunity as a preventative therapy for cancer immunotherapy-induced CRS, its unique AI-driven drug discovery programmes, and an oral GLP-1R agonist which is entering the clinic shortly for a proof-of-concept trial.
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