News & Events

Guests, shareholders, fellow directors and friends of the company. Welcome to the 2009 Annual General Meeting of ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals.

The last twelve months have been truly transformational for ChemGenex and we sit now with the possibility of drug approvals in the world's two largest pharmaceutical markets, the USA and Europe, and the potential launch of Omapro by our own commercial team in the USA next year.

ChemGenex now walks the international stage, and is recognized as an innovator and leader in the field of hematology research and therapeutic development.

With the company now on the threshold of drug approvals in major global therapeutic markets, it is once again in a transitional phase, moving from a clinical stage biotechnology company to an integrated biopharmaceutical company with full commercial capabilities. It is rewarding to see that ChemGenex is now well positioned to deliver on our goal of improving treatment outcomes for patients who are resistant to current therapies.

Of course this strong momentum could not have been achieved without the tireless efforts of our CEO, Dr Greg Collier and his management team. Whilst Greg's efforts have long been recognized by the Board and staff of the company, it is satisfying when these efforts are recognised externally and I extend my congratulations to Greg for recently receiving the AusBiotech 2009 Chairman's Excellence Award for outstanding contribution by an individual within a company.

I'm sure Greg would acknowledge that these awards are not achieved without the real support of a strong management team and I would like to extend my thanks and congratulations to Greg and his team for another strong year of performance.

As you know, this year the board took the decision to seek a voluntary de-listing from the NASDAQ Capital Market and to fully deregister from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's ongoing reporting obligations. These voluntary decisions reflected the limited benefits generated by the listing as compared to the significant compliance costs and obligations. This decision also allowed us to reduce the size of the Board of Directors, and I would like to thank the outgoing directors; Dennis Brown, Julie
Cherrington and Don Santel for their efforts and contributions to the company.

I will now ask ChemGenex's CEO, Dr Greg Collier, to share with you an overview of the company, the achievements of the past year and the progress anticipated over the coming year.