Item 3. Legal Proceedings
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
In June 2023, a putative class action lawsuit was filed against the Company, its Executive Chairman and its Chief Executive Officer. The complaint, later amended to add our Chief Financial Officer as a defendant, purports to be brought on behalf of a class of persons and/or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired ordinary shares of the Company from January 5, 2023 through June 5, 2023, and alleges material misstatements and/or omissions in the Company’s public statements with respect to the results from its phase 3 LUNAR clinical trial. The Company believes that the action is without merit and plans to defend the lawsuit vigorously.
In addition, from time to time, we are involved in various legal proceedings, claims, investigations and litigation that arise in the ordinary course of our business. Litigation is inherently uncertain. Accordingly, we cannot predict with certainty the outcome of these matters. After considering a number of factors, including (but not limited to) the views of legal counsel, the nature of contingencies to which the Company is subject and prior experience, management believes that the ultimate disposition of these legal actions will not materially affect its consolidated financial position or results of operations.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
None
Information about our Executive Officers
Our executive officers are elected by and serve at the discretion of our board of directors. The following table lists information about our executive officers:
Name Age Position
Asaf Danziger 57 Chief Executive Officer and Director
William Doyle 61 Executive Chairman and Director
Barak Ben-Arye 48 General Counsel
Ashley Cordova 44 Chief Financial Officer
Moshe Giladi
54 Chief Science Officer
Wilhelmus Groenhuysen 66 Chief Operating Officer
Francis Leonard 44 Executive Vice President, President Novocure Oncology
Nicholas Leupin
50 Chief Medical Officer
Michael Puri
54 Chief Human Resources Officer
Uri Weinberg 46 Chief Innovation Officer
Asaf Danziger has served as our Chief Executive Officer since 2002 and has been a director of NovoCure since 2012. From 1998 to 2002, Mr. Danziger was CEO of Cybro Medical, a subsidiary of Imagyn Medical Technologies, Inc. Mr. Danziger holds a B.Sc. in material engineering from Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.
William Doyle has served as our Executive Chairman since 2016, as Chairman of the Board since 2009 and as a member of our Board of Directors since 2004. Mr. Doyle has been the managing director of WFD Ventures LLC, a private venture capital firm he co-founded, since 2002. Prior to 2002, Mr. Doyle was a member of Johnson & Johnson’s Medical Devices and Diagnostics Group Operating Committee and was Vice President, Licensing and Acquisitions. While at Johnson & Johnson, Mr. Doyle was also chairman of the Medical Devices Research and Development Council, and Worldwide president of Biosense-Webster, Inc. and a member of the board of directors of Cordis Corporation and Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, Johnson & Johnson’s venture capital subsidiary. Earlier in his career, Mr. Doyle was a management consultant in the healthcare group of McKinsey & Company. Mr. Doyle is also a member of the Governing Board of the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance. From 2014 to 2016 he was a member of the investment team at Pershing Square Capital Management L.P., a private investment firm and from November 2016 to January 2021, Mr.Doyle served as the Executive
48
Chairman of BlinkHealth LLC, which has developed a pharmacy-as-a-service, e-commerce platform. Mr. Doyle has been a director of Elanco Animal Health, Inc. since 2020 and ProKidney, Inc. since 2022. Mr. Doyle previously served as a director of Optinose, Inc., a commercial-stage specialty pharmaceuticals company, from 2004 to 2020 and director of Minerva Neurosciences, Inc., from 2017 to 2023. Mr. Doyle holds an S.B. in materials science and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Mr. Doyle serves on Harvard Business School’s Board of Dean’s Advisors and MIT’s Institute of Medical Engineering & Science Visiting Committee.
Barak Ben-Arye has been our General Counsel since April 2022 and prior to that was our Vice President, EMEA Counsel since June 2019 and our Senior Director, EMEA Counsel since joining us in 2018. Mr. Ben-Arye served as the Chief Executive Officer of Gaash Business and Agriculture, Cooperative Agricultural Society Ltd., an Israeli cooperative association engaged in industry, agriculture, commerce, real estate and tourism, from 2014 to 2018. Prior to joining Gaash, he worked for Raved, Magriso, Benkel & Co., an international law firm in Tel Aviv (later merged into Shibolet & Co.) from 2005 to 2013, last serving as a partner in the firm’s hi-tech and life science department. Mr. Ben-Arye earned his Bachelor of Laws and his Bachelor of Business Administration from Reichman University (IDC Herzliya) in Israel.
Ashley Cordova has been our Chief Financial Officer since September 2020. From October 2018 to August 2020, Ms. Cordova served as our Senior Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations. Ms. Cordova joined us in June 2014 as Director of Global Treasury. In March 2015, she became our Senior Director, Investor Relations and Global Treasury, and in July 2016, she became our Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations. Prior to joining us, Ms. Cordova served in various financial roles at Zoetis Inc. from 2012 to 2014 and Pfizer Inc. from 2005 to 2012. Ms. Cordova graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Music and Business from Furman University, and earned her International Master of Business Administration from the University of South Carolina.
Moshe Giladi, Ph.D., has been our Chief Science Officer since July 2023. Dr. Giladi joined Novocure in 2005 and most recently held the title of Senior Vice President of Preclinical Research. He holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Biochemistry and a master’s degree in business administration from Tel Aviv University.
Wilhelmus Groenhuysen has been our Chief Operations Officer since September 2020 and prior to that was our Chief Financial Officer since 2012. He has served on the Board of Optinose Inc., a commercial-stage specialty pharmaceuticals company, since October 2017. From 2007 to 2011, Mr. Groenhuysen worked for Cephalon, Inc., a U.S. biopharmaceutical company, last serving as executive vice president and chief financial officer, where he had responsibility for worldwide finance, commercial operations and risk management. From 1987 to 2007, Mr. Groenhuysen worked for Philips Group in various assignments in Europe, Asia and the United States, the latest of which started in 2002 when he was promoted to chief financial officer and senior vice president of Philips Electronics North America Corporation. Mr. Groenhuysen holds a Master’s Degree in Business Economics from VU University Amsterdam and graduated as a Registered Public Controller at VU University Amsterdam.
Frank Leonard has been our Executive Vice President, President Novocure Oncology since January 2024. Mr. Leonard joined Novocure in 2010, and most recently served as President, CNS Cancers U.S. Prior to joining Novocure, Mr. Leonard was a venture capital investor focused on high-impact medical technologies. Mr. Leonard holds an A.B. from Harvard and an M.A. from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Nicholas Leupin, M.D., Ph.D., has served as our Chief Medical Officer since January 2024. Dr. Leupin previously served as Chief Medical Officer of Molecular Partners AG since August 2019. Prior to that Dr. Leupin served as Chief Medical Officer of argenx from 2016. Dr. Leupin holds an M.D. from the University of Bern, an M.B.A. from Jones International University and a Ph.D. from the Université Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.
Michael Puri has served as our Chief Human Resources Officer since September 2023. Mr. Puri previously served as Vice President, HR Integration lead at CSL Limited, following the company’s acquisition of Vifor Pharma, where he served as Chief Human Resources Officer from 2015 to 2022. He also served as Chief Human Resources Officer at GrandVision, an international leader in optical retailing, from 2013 to 2015. Mr. Puri has also held leadership positions at Staples, Inc. and UCB S.A., a global biopharma company. He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Nantes and his master’s degree in strategic marketing from the Grenoble Business School.
Uri Weinberg, M.D., Ph.D. , has served as our Chief Innovation Officer since January 2023, where he is responsible for expanding the innovative potential of Tumor Treating Fields therapy. Since joining Novocure in 2008, he has held several positions throughout his tenure with the Company and most recently held the position of Chief Science Officer since 2020. Dr. Weinberg holds an M.D. Ph.D. from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.
49
PART II