Corporate News

Polarean Imaging plc (AIM: POLX the medical‑imaging technology company, with an investigational drug‑device combination product using hyperpolarised ¹²⁹Xenon gas to enhance magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in pulmonary medicine, announces the appointment of Frank Maria Schulkes, aged 60, to the Company's Board as a Non-Executive Director with immediate effect.

Mr Schulkes has previously spent 27 years with GE, of which 18 of those was with GE Healthcare, a global medical technology, life sciences and services organisation, in a variety of increasingly senior financial and planning roles. In 2007, he was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) of GE Healthcare, a position he held for eight years.

Most recently, Mr Schulkes was CFO of ConvaTec Group Plc., a global medical products and technologies company focused on therapies for the management of chronic conditions, with leading market positions in advanced wound care, ostomy care, continence & critical care, and infusion care. Prior to that he was CFO of Wittur Group, a privately-held industrial company based in Germany.

Mr Schulkes will be appointed to the Board on the same basis as regards voting and term of appointment as the Company's existing Non-Executive Directors, and will serve as the Chair of the Audit Committee. He will be subject to the same requirements as contained in the Articles of Association of the Company for such appointment to be approved at the next Annual General Meeting of the Company and will be subject to the same requirements for retirement by rotation as the other Directors.

500,000 Share Options have been granted to Mr Schulkes. The Share Options will be exercisable at a price of 55p and will vest 25% on 13 April 2023 with the remaining Share Options vesting in equal portions on the last day of each calendar month over the period of 36 months starting on 31 May 2023.

Notifications have been made in accordance with the requirements of the UK Market Abuse Regulation in respect of the PDMR and further details can be found by following this link: https://www.polarean-ir.com/content/investors/shareholder-information  

Richard Hullihen, Chief Executive Officer of Polarean, said: “Frank is a seasoned financial expert and his broad background in corporate finance will be a great benefit as he takes the role as Chair of our Audit Committee. I am delighted that he has agreed to join us in a Non-Executive Director role, and we look forward to capitalising on his excellent track record and hearing his independent views in addition to those already providing guidance to the management team. On behalf of the Board, I would like to welcome Frank to the team at Polarean and we look forward to the skills and advice he will bring to the Company.”

Frank Schulkes added: “I am thrilled to join the Polarean Board and I am keen to use my experience in a long career in finance to add value to the team.”

Information required under Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules for Companies ("AIM Rules")

The following information is disclosed pursuant to Rule 17 and Schedule Two paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies in relation to Frank Schulkes:

Save as disclosed above, there are no other matters which are required to be disclosed with regards to the appointment of Frank Schulkes in accordance Rule 17 and Schedule Two paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies.

Market Abuse Regulation Disclosure

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 ("MAR") until the release of this announcement.

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About Polarean (www.polarean.com)

The Company and its wholly owned subsidiary, Polarean, Inc. (together the "Group") are revenue-generating, investigational drug-device combination companies operating in the high-resolution medical imaging research space.

The Group develops equipment that enables existing MRI systems to achieve an improved level of pulmonary function imaging and specialises in the use of hyperpolarised Xenon gas (¹²⁹Xe) as an imaging agent to visualise ventilation. ¹²⁹Xe gas is currently being studied for visualisation of gas exchange regionally in the smallest airways of the lungs, across the alveolar tissue membrane, and into the pulmonary bloodstream.

In October 2020, the Group submitted a New Drug Application (“NDA”) to the FDA for hyperpolarised ¹²⁹Xe used to evaluate pulmonary function and to visualise the lung using MRI. The Group received a complete response letter on 5 October 2021. On 30 March 2022, the Company filed the resubmission of its NDA with the US FDA.

The Group operates in an area of significant unmet medical need and the Group's technology provides a novel investigational diagnostic approach, offering a non-invasive and radiation-free functional imaging platform. The annual economic burden of pulmonary disease in the US is estimated to be over US $150 billion.