TiGenix appoints Jean Stéphenne chairman & Russell Greig member of board of directors

"We are delighted and proud to appoint these seasoned professionals, who both have an outstanding record in the pharmaceutical industry," said Willy Duron, former chairman of the Board of Directors. "Their long and broad experience with all aspects of drug development and building innovative pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies will be of immense value as TiGenix enters into a pivotal phase of its growth with the commercial roll-out of ChondroCelect and the advanced clinical development of its cell therapy programs. The board would like to express its gratitude to Koenraad Debackere and Mounia Chaoui-Roulleau for their expert guidance and support through the years."

Jean Stéphenne

Jean Stéphenne was until recently Member of the Corporate Executive Team of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and Chairman and President of GSK Biologicals in Wavre, Belgium, which he built into a world leader in vaccines. He currently serves as Chairman of BESIX, IBA and BioWin, and as Director of BNP Paribas Fortis, VBO/FEB, Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL), and Vesalius Biocapital.

Russell G. Greig, PhD

Russell Greig worked at GlaxoSmithKline for nearly three decades, most recently as President of SR One, GSK's Corporate Venture Group. Prior to joining SR One, he served as President of GSK's Pharmaceuticals International from 2003 to 2008 and also on the GSK Corporate Executive Team. Dr Greig currently serves as Chairman of AM Pharma in the Netherlands, Isconova AB in Sweden and Syntaxin in the UK, and is a member of the Scottish Science Advisory Council.

The appointments of JeanStéphenne and Russell Greig are effective immediately subject to final appointment by the next shareholders' meeting.

For more information:

Eduardo Bravo
Chief Executive Officer
eduardo.bravo@tigenix.com                       

Claudia D'Augusta
Chief Financial Officer
claudia.daugusta@tigenix.com

Hans Herklots
Director Investor & Media Relations
hans.herklots@tigenix.com
+32 16 39 60 97

About TiGenix

TiGenix NV (Euronext Brussels: TIG) is a leading European cell therapy company with a marketed product for cartilage repair, ChondroCelect®, and a strong pipeline with clinical stage allogeneic adult stem cell programs for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. TiGenix is based out of Leuven (Belgium) and has operations in Madrid (Spain), and Sittard-Geleen (the Netherlands). For more information please visit www.tigenix.com.