Iconix Announces Appointment of Jim Neal as CEO
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Iconix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an industry pioneer in chemogenomics, today announced the appointment of Jim Neal as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Neal brings a wealth of pharmaceutical industry, product commercialization, business development (including collaborations and partnering) and general management experience to Iconix. He will be instrumental in advancing the Company's vision to become the definitive source of chemogenomic-based information, intellectual property and drug discovery programs in the life sciences sector. Iconix's leading chemogenomics product offering is DrugMatrix(TM), a large-scale informatics system that enables researchers to select the highest quality leads and drug candidates at the earliest, most cost-effective stages of drug discovery and development.
Mr. Neal, who was previously Executive Vice President, Sales, Marketing and Business Development for Incyte Genomics, succeeds Keith Bostian, Iconix's founder. Dr. Bostian will work closely with Mr. Neal, the Iconix executive team and the Iconix Board of Directors during the transition and remains affiliated with the Company.
"In Jim, Iconix gains a rare combination of leadership, drive, commercial experience and strategic vision that will lift the company to an entirely new level," said Jon Saxe, Iconix's Chairman. "We are delighted to welcome Jim to Iconix, and certain that he will be instrumental in positioning the company as the premier entity in the promising new field of chemogenomics and its application to drug discovery and development," Saxe continued.
"My work experience has tended to focus on working with scientific and business teams to create growth for new products and emerging businesses," said Jim Neal. "Chemogenomics is one of the most exciting leading edge fields in the pharmaceutical industry as we look to more definitively capitalize on the so-called 'post genomic' opportunities. Iconix has the right team, the optimal technology and the best product offering to be the definitive leader in this field."
In his prior role at Incyte, Mr. Neal led a group of approximately 100 people responsible for Incyte's global commercial activities with clients and collaborators. Incyte's customer and partner base for its industry-leading genomics products is a 'who's who' of the world's pharmaceutical and large biotechnology companies including Pfizer, Astra-Zeneca, Eli Lilly, Genentech, Biogen and many more. Prior to joining Incyte in 1999, Mr. Neal served as General Manager of the Solaris Group, a division of Monsanto Company. Mr. Neal held various positions with Monsanto since 1982, including Manager of New Product Introduction, Director of Brand Marketing and Residential Products Division, and Vice President of Global Business Development. Mr. Neal was born in Australia and moved to Canada in the early 1970s where he completed his B. Sc. in Biology and his M. Sc. in Genetics & Plant Breeding from the University of Manitoba. He also holds an Executive MBA from Washington University.
Iconix Pharmaceuticals develops integrated technologies that allow life science researchers to discover drug candidates for novel therapeutic targets and predict the potential efficacy, toxicity and other side effects of drug candidates at the earliest stages of drug discovery. Iconix also maintains internal drug discovery and development programs based on novel targets resulting from genomic studies. Iconix has established a portfolio of collaborators to advance its chemogenomic product development initiatives, including Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT - News) and its Biochip Systems Division, Incyte Genomics, Inc. (Nasdaq: INCY - News), the MDS Pharma Services business of MDS Inc. (Toronto: MDS - News; NYSE: MDZ - News), and Essential Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ETRX - News) For more information, visit Iconix's web site at www.iconixpharm.com.
CONTACT: David O'Reilly, Chief Business Officer of Iconix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., +1-650-567-5532.
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SOURCE: Iconix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. |
