Executive Committee

Sijmen de Vries, MD MBA

Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer

Dr. de Vries has been our Chief Executive Officer since 2008, and he has also served in the capacity of interim Chief Financial Officer from May 2020 through November 16, 2020, upon the commencement of Mr. Wakkerman’s tenure as Chief Financial Officer. Dr. de Vries is responsible for daily management of the company and the execution of the strategy. Prior to joining Pharming, Dr. de Vries was the CEO of 4-Antibody and Morphochem AG. Dr. de Vries also held senior business and commercial positions at Novartis, Novartis Ophthalmics and at SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals plc. Dr. de Vries holds an MD degree from the University of Amsterdam and an MBA in General Management from Ashridge Management College in the United Kingdom. Dr. de Vries is on the Board of Directors of Pharming's fill & finish partner, BioConnection B.V. and is also a non-executive director of Midatech Pharma plc.

Jeroen Wakkerman

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Wakkerman has been our Chief Financial Officer since November 2020. From 2015 to 2020, Mr. Wakkerman served as Chief Financial Officer of Nutreco N.V., a global leader in animal nutrition and aquafeed. Prior to that, Jeroen served as Chief Financial Officer of SHV Energy N.V., as finance director at Calor Gas (UK) and has also held several financial and commercial positions at Unilever and Rabobank. Jeroen holds an MSc degree in Business Economics from the University of Groningen and is a Chartered Treasurer (UK) and a Chartered Management Accountant (UK).

Anurag Relan, MD

Chief Medical Officer

Prior to being appointed Chief Medical Officer in June 2021, Mr. Relan has been Vice President Clinical Research and Medical Affairs at Pharming, having held several roles within the company during the past 15 years. Prior to his work at Pharming, he was in clinical practice while also teaching medical residents/students. Mr. Relan holds an MD and MPH from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Robert Friesen, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Friesen was appointed our Chief Scientific Officer in August 2021. He has more than 20 years of experience in drug discovery and development. Previously, Dr. Friesen was CSO of Kiadis Pharma and Ablynx until their acquisitions by Sanofi. Prior to Sanofi Dr. Friesen was Senior Vice President of Research at ProQR and Vice President and Head of Biologics Research within Janssen R&D, a Johnson & Johnson company. Before joining Janssen R&D, Dr. Friesen held senior R&D positions at AM-Pharma, MorphoSys and Crucell. Dr. Friesen has authored several publications in high impact scientific journals and participated in numerous invited lectures. He has also been awarded multiple patents in the field of biotechnology. Dr. Friesen earned a M.S. in Biology from the University of Utrecht, and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, at the University of Texas Medical Branch.

Ruud van Outersterp

Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer

Mr. van Outersterp has been our Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer since May 2021. He has served as our Company Secretary from 1 April 2020. Prior to joining Pharming, Mr. van Outersterp held several senior leadership positions at ABN AMRO and its predecessors, including the positions of Global Head of Legal and Company Secretary, and as senior legal counsel at former Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. Mr. van Outersterp is also a member of the supervisory board of a healthcare institution and is a teacher at the Governance University in Driebergen in the Netherlands. He also earned a Master’s in Law at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Mireille Sanders, MSc

Chief Operations Officer

Prior to being appointed Chief Operations Officer on 15 December 2020, Ms. Sanders served as our Senior Vice President, Operations since 2019. From 2016 until 2019, Ms. Sanders served as Head of Clinical Supply Chain Strategic Management and Systems at Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a Johnson & Johnson company. Prior to Janssen, Ms. Sanders held senior positions at MSD/Merck, from 2007 until 2015. She holds an MSc in Chemical Engineering from the Technical University Eindhoven in the Netherlands.

Stephen Toor

Chief Commercial Officer and General Manager Americas

Prior to being appointed Chief Commercial Officer and General Manager Americas on 15 December 2020, Mr. Toor served as President and General Manager of Pharming Healthcare, our US operations, since 2020. From 2017 to 2020, Mr. Toor was the Senior Vice President and General Manager, US. Prior to Pharming, Mr. Toor was Senior Director, Sales and Marketing – Immunology, Orphan and Mature Brands at Bausch Health (formerly Valeant) from 2013 to 2016. Prior to 2013, Mr. Toor held positions at Pharmacia/Pfizer and ScheringPlough/Merck. He holds a BA (Hons) in European and American History from Manchester Metropolitan University.