XOMA Announces Planned Retirement of Chief Executive Officer
Monday February 26, 1:00 pm ET
BERKELEY, Calif., Feb. 26, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Jack Castello, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of XOMA Ltd. (NasdaqGM:XOMA - News), announced today his plans to retire. Mr. Castello, 70, chose to announce his retirement plans now to allow adequate time to find the best qualified individual to succeed him and make the management change as smooth as possible. He will continue to serve in his present capacities during the candidate search and transition period.
Denny Van Ness, a member of XOMA's Board of Directors, stated, ``Jack Castello has made a significant contribution to XOMA in guiding it through both tough times and good times. He has transformed XOMA into a leading therapeutic antibody discovery, development and manufacturing company.''
``I would like to express my appreciation to the Board, shareholders, and all of XOMA's employees for their support over the past fifteen years,'' stated Mr. Castello. ``We are proud of what we have been able to build here at XOMA and I am confident we have the talent and the programs in place to see XOMA through to financial stability and ensure its ultimate success.''
About XOMA
XOMA is a leader in the discovery, development and manufacture of therapeutic antibodies, with a therapeutic focus that includes cancer and immune diseases. XOMA has royalty interests in RAPTIVA(r) (efalizumab), a monoclonal antibody product marketed worldwide (by Genentech, Inc. and Merck-Serono, SA) to treat moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, and LUCENTIS(r) (ranibizumab injection), a monoclonal antibody product marketed worldwide (by Genentech and Novartis AG) to treat neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration.
The company has built a premier antibody discovery and development platform that includes access to seven of the leading commercially available antibody phage display libraries and XOMA's proprietary Human Engineering(tm) and Bacterial Cell Expression (BCE) technologies. More than 45 companies have signed BCE licenses. XOMA's development collaborators include Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Novartis, Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE:SGP - News) and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. With a fully integrated product development infrastructure, XOMA's product development capabilities extend from preclinical sciences to product launch. For more information, please visit the company's website at xoma.com. |
