Lotus Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd (“Lotus” or “the Company”, Taiwan OTC stock code: 1795) today held its 2015 2nd Extraordinary General Meeting (“EGM”) which was presided by Charles Lin, the Chairman of the Company. In addition to approving the amendments to certain internal policies for establishing the Audit Committee, the shareholders also elected one additional independent director and one additional director and Robert Wessman, the Chairman and CEO of Alvogen Group, was elected as the director representing Alvogen Asia Pacific Holdings Limited during the meeting.
The participation of Robert Wessman in Lotus’ Board of Directors not only indicates the well-proceeded integration between Lotus and Alvogen in both business and operation but also demonstrates Alvogen Group’s strong commitment to building up long-term partnership with Lotus team as well as further solidifying its footprints in Asia Pacific markets.
It has been less than one year from the completion of Alvogen’s private placement in Lotus for being the majority shareholder of Lotus in August last year, followed by Lotus’s acquiring Alvogen’s operations in Korea, India and Taiwan. However, the two parties have been cooperating closely to deliver quite a few concrete results in regard to business development, overall operation, and resource integration. For example, some core products of Lotus such as Temozolomide and Thalidomide were filed in Korea; Lotus, with the strong support from Alvogen, completed the acquisition of Dream Pharma, a market leader in obesity products in Korea, and the board of directors of the two Korean subsidiaries, Kunhwa and Dream Pharma, agreed and proposed to the shareholders’ meeting separately for a merger into one company recently. The whole process is expected to be closed in June and it should be able to further maximize the synergies of the acquisition. Moreover, the filing of the Lotus’ products in the US is going ahead as planned and we are on schedule to launch Levetiracetam in the third quarter.
In addition, Mr. Hjorleifur Palsson, who was recommended by the Board of Directors, was elected as the independent director during the meeting today. Mr. Hjorleifur Palsson was the CFO of Ossur hf, a NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen listed company, with around 12 years of experience in leading accounting and financing, corporate planning, investor relations, human resources, and global operations, and was a Partner and board member at Deloitte & Touche hf before joining Ossur hf. Lotus then officially establishes the Audit Committee, consisting of the three independent directors, today. The Audit Committee will help the Company implement a more conscientious corporate governance system and assist the Board of Directors in carrying out its oversight responsibilities over the management team. Besides, Lotus’ Board of Directors will reply on Mr. Palsson’s exceptional professional background and comprehensive experience to lead the newly-established Audit Committee to fully implement the corporate governance for the benefits of all the shareholders.
According to Lotus, the two additional directors elected today will further strengthen the overall operations of Lotus’ Board of Directors and the effectiveness of corporate governance. The new Board of Directors will also deepen the cooperation between Lotus and Alvogen Group as well as solidify the tactic position of Lotus for Alvogen’s Asia Pacific markets. With Robert Wessman’s participation in overseeing the Company’s operations, the integration between two parties will be even more organized and smoother, leading the Company to become a regional player in Asia.