2/12/2013

Aachen, 12 February 2013 – Today, the Grünenthal Group announced the appointment of Chief Executive Officer, Harald F. Stock, PhD. to the Board of Directors of OvaScienceSM. The life sciences company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA), focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of new treatments for infertility.

“OvaScience’s unique approach to developing treatments for infertility may offer new solutions to address the increasing rate of female infertility in the U.S. and abroad,” commented Harald F. Stock upon his appointment as member of the Board of Directors. “I look forward to helping OvaScience bring these new therapies to patients throughout the world.”

The global fertility market is growing rapidly. For OvaScience CEO Michelle Dipp, M.D., Ph.D. the appointment of Harald F. Stock is thus made at the right time. “Harald joins our Board at a time when OvaScience continues to pursue its goal of developing new infertility treatments for the U.S. market, while evaluating multiple commercial opportunities outside the U.S.,” said Michelle Dipp. “The global fertility market is nearly 10 times larger than the U.S. alone, and growing rapidly. Harald's expertise and success commercializing products in global healthcare markets will be important to OvaScience as we advance our ex-U.S. strategy.”

Since 2009, Harald F. Stock, Ph.D. has served as Chief Executive Officer of the Grünenthal Group. Harald F. Stock was also a Board Observer on the Board of Directors of ConforMIS, Inc., Burlington, MA, USA from 2009 until 2012 and was appointed Member of the Board for immatics biotechnologies GmbH, Tübingen, Germany, in February 2011. From May 2011 to October 2012, he was the Vice-chairman of the Supervisory Board of PAION AG, a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Aachen, Germany. Harald F. Stock is a Board Member at the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (efpia).

About Grünenthal
The Grünenthal Group is an independent, family-owned, international research-based pharmaceutical company headquartered in Aachen, Germany. Building on its unique position in pain treatment, its objective is to become the most patient-centric company and thus to be a leader in therapy innovation.

Grünenthal is one of the last five remaining research-oriented pharmaceutical companies with headquarters in Germany which sustainably invests in research and development. Research and development costs amounted to about 26 percent of revenues in 2012. Grünenthal’s research and development strategy concentrates on selected fields of therapy and state-of-the-art technologies. We are intensely focused on discovering new ways to treat pain better and more effectively, with fewer side-effects than current therapies.

Altogether, the Grünenthal Group has affiliates in 26 countries worldwide. Grünenthal products are sold in more than 155 countries. Today, approx. 4,400 employees are working for the Grünenthal Group worldwide. In 2012, Grünenthal achieved revenues of €973 mn.

More information: www.grunenthal.com.