For immediate release
Contact: Gary Sender
Chief Financial Officer
Tengion, Inc.
gary.sender@tengion.com
East Norriton, Pa., June 30, 2008 - Tengion, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the development of neo-organs and neo-tissues, today announced that its President and Chief Executive Officer, Steven Nichtberger, M.D., has been awarded the Ernst & Young Greater Philadelphia Entrepreneur Of The Year® in the Life Sciences category. The winners were selected by an independent judging panel made up of regional business, academic and community leaders and were revealed at a gala event on June 26, 2008 at Loews Hotel, Philadelphia.
The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® Awards program recognizes the leaders and visionaries who are creating and building world-class businesses. Awards are given to entrepreneurs who have demonstrated excellence and extraordinary success in such areas as innovation, financial performance, and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.
“On behalf of all of our dedicated and passionate employees, it is a great honor to receive this award from Ernst & Young and to be recognized by my peers in the Philadelphia area,” said Dr. Nichtberger, President and CEO of Tengion. “Tengion has been built upon the innovation, business excellence and commitment to our community that this award acknowledges and it is thanks to the support of the Board of Directors, the management team and the truly remarkable employees that all work together at Tengion that this award is possible. I look forward to continuing our promising and pioneering work at Tengion and collaborating with colleagues in the Philadelphia area to help drive our region’s growth.”
In addition to serving as the company’s President and CEO, Dr. Nichtberger is the co-founder of Tengion. Prior to co-founding Tengion, Dr. Nichtberger was a member of the senior management team at Merck, where he held a variety of positions including: leadership of the global marketing organization with responsibility for developing marketing strategy for all Merck brands globally; operational leadership with P&L responsibility for a $3.5 billion US product portfolio; and, leadership of the New Product Planning function. He also played an integral role in several corporate licensing, divestiture, and product acquisition deals. Previously, Dr. Nichtberger founded and developed a profitable, privately-held company that licenses intellectual property in the field of internet-based paperless couponing. He holds a BA in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania, a BS in Economics from the Wharton School, and an M.D. from the School of Medicine and Biosciences, SUNY at Buffalo. He is currently on the board of directors of Pennsylvania Bio and BioAdvance, the external advisory board of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania and the board of the Montgomery County Association for Retarded Citizens.
About the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards
The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year awards celebrate their 22nd anniversary this year, recognizing business leaders in over 135 cities in 50 countries throughout the world. This year's regional award winners will be eligible for consideration in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2008 national program. Winners in numerous national categories, as well as the overall national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year award winner, will be announced at the annual awards gala in Palm Springs, California, on November 15, 2008. The awards are the culminating event of the Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum, one of the nation's most prestigious gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies.
About Tengion
Tengion, a clinical stage biotechnology company, focuses on developing, manufacturing and commercializing human neo-organs and neo-tissues using our Autologous Organ Regeneration Platform™. Tengion uses biocompatible materials and a patient's own (autologous) cells to create neo-organs or neo-tissues that are designed to catalyze the body's innate ability to regenerate. Tengion's product candidates may ultimately address the most critical problems facing organ and tissue failure patients, enabling people to lead healthier lives without donor transplants or the side effects of related therapies.