Invitation to attend the General Meeting
Dear Newron Shareholder,
when presenting our Annual Report 2023, recently, we looked back at the significant progress Newron has made, last year: against a backdrop of challenging global biotechnology market conditions, we continued to make huge strides in advancing our evenamide development program for treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) through the clinic.
We have reported multiple data sets across three different study timepoints, each showing compelling evidence for the benefit of evenamide in schizophrenia patients no longer responding to their first- or second-generation antipsychotic treatments (TRS). 2024 and beyond will be equally decisive for our Company. We are currently preparing for a potentially pivotal, Phase III trial of evenamide as an add-on therapy in treatment-resistant patients. Additionally, we anticipate reporting data from our potentially pivotal Phase II/III trial (study 008A) in non-treatment resistant schizophrenia patients, in April 2024.
To further execute on our future growth strategy, we ask for your support. Today we invite you to make use of your most fundamental right as shareholder of your company, the exercise of your voting right in the upcoming ordinary and extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on April 17, 2024, at 10 am CET
Which topics are on the agenda?
In the ordinary part, we will take the regular decisions to approve the financial statements for the past year 2023. We will also appoint a new statutory auditor and a new replacement candidate under Italian law.
We propose to elect Margarita Chavez as non-executive director to our board of directors. Ms. Chavez has been an advisor to the Board since October last year. As Newron indicated at that time, she is now up for election into the board of directors. We will benefit from her substantial dealmaking expertise, in particular in the United States, her leadership in the pharmaceutical industry and as a biotech investor. After last year’s election of Gillian Dines, we are proud to present Margarita as the second addition of an independent new member to the board within short time.
The extraordinary part is of material relevance to the strong financial position of the Company in the future as well as retaining its qualified personnel for the long term.
Our current authorizations to increase the Company’s share capital were approved in 2018 and will expire within the next about 12 months, if and to the extent not used. The Company will then no longer be able to raise capital by offering shares. We propose a modest 10% increase to be exercised in one or more instances over a five-year period. Be assured that the board of directors and management will make reasonable use of this instrument, if and when beneficial to the shareholders. These shares, as all existing shares, would immediately qualify for a listing on our current stock exchanges, and, upon a formal listing approval, on Nasdaq.
We also propose to grant the power to further increase the Company’s share capital by up to 3%, again over the next five years, to support a new stock option program. In our industry, the participation in the Company’s success, measured by the increase in its share price, is a standard instrument to attract and retain the best talent. Newron’s total Stock Option Plans (SOP) are moderate, compared to our peers, and therefore we believe it is reasonable to ask for your support on this topic.
Participating in our upcoming shareholders' meeting is straightforward yet vital.
However, immediate action is required, as the process usually takes one to two weeks due to bank procedures. Your prompt involvement is crucial for our collective progress and success.
All you need to do is
- instruct your bank to register your shares for the meeting – usually the bank offers this service, free of charge; should that not be the case, Newron will reimburse the cost you have incurred, upon providing evidence of payment
- provide voting instructions either to your bank OR by proxy to a local law firm (Milan, Italy) of your choice (at your expense).
On our website - https://www.newron.com/investors/shareholders-meeting -, we provide all the necessary documents and information: the agenda of the meetings, the registration and voting instruction, as well as the proxy in case of using the law firm, in English and German language. For further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
We look forward to your support in the upcoming meeting.
Your team Newron