Rigel Announces Changes to Board of Directors and Appoints Gary A. Lyons
Wednesday October 5, 7:30 am ET
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: RIGL - News) today announced that Gary A. Lyons, president and chief executive officer of Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc., has been appointed to Rigel's board of directors, effective as of October 5, 2005, to serve as a Class III director until Rigel's 2006 annual stockholders' meeting. At this time, Rigel has made no determination as to which committees, if any, Mr. Lyons will be appointed. Mr. Lyons brings over 35 years of management experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries to Rigel's board. Rigel also announced that Nicholas J. Simon III, managing director of Clarus Ventures and general partner in MPM BioVentures III, has resigned from Rigel's board of directors, effective October 4, 2005. Mr. Simon was a member of Rigel's Compensation Committee.
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"Gary's insight and expertise will be invaluable as we continue to advance our novel drug candidates in the clinic and develop commercialization strategies," stated James M. Gower, Rigel's chairman and chief executive officer. "He has successfully implemented a strategy at Neurocrine that has set a high standard for biopharmaceutical companies."
Mr. Gower also thanked Nicholas Simon for his contributions, "During his tenure on the board of directors, Nick brought extensive pharmaceutical business expertise. We thank him for his support and guidance as we successfully transitioned to a late-stage drug development company."
Mr. Lyons has held senior management positions at Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. and Genentech, Inc. A member of the senior management team at Neurocrine since 1993, Mr. Lyons led Neurocrine as it transitioned from a research-based organization into a development company with seven products in the clinic and four major pharmaceutical partners. Prior to joining Neurocrine, Mr. Lyons was vice president of business development at Genentech, Inc. where he was responsible for international licensing, acquisitions and partnering, and had operating responsibility for Genentech's two subsidiaries, Genentech Canada, Inc. and Genentech Limited (Japan). He holds a B.S. in marine biology from the University of New Hampshire and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University's J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Mr. Lyons currently serves on the Board of Directors of Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. and Vical, Inc.
About Rigel
Rigel is a late-stage drug development company that discovers and develops novel, small-molecule drugs for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, cancer and viral diseases. Our goal is to move one new product candidate for a significant indication into the clinic each year. We have achieved this goal since 2002. Our pioneering research focuses on intracellular signaling pathways and their targets that are critical to disease mechanisms. Rigel's productivity has resulted in strategic collaborations with large pharmaceutical partners to develop and market our product candidates. We have three product development programs in allergy/asthma, rheumatoid arthritis and cancer. |
