Ariel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Expands Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Board
Dr. Perry B. Molinoff Appointed Independent Director to Board of Directors
Dr. Stanton Newman Named Chairman of Scientific Advisory Board
Broomfield, CO, October 3, 2011 – Ariel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a private, specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of products for acute central nervous system (CNS) diseases and trauma, announced today that Perry B. Molinoff, M.D., has been appointed as independent director of its board of directors and Professor Stanton Newman, Ph.D., has joined as chairman of the company’s scientific advisory board.
“Drs. Molinoff and Newman are tremendous additions to the Ariel team, and we look forward to leveraging their extensive expertise to enable Ariel to advance its CNS-focused therapeutic programs, including AP-1531, a novel drug for the treatment of acute migraine,” said Steve Orndorff, president and CEO of Ariel Pharmaceuticals. “We’re confident that with their guidance we’ll be able to successfully expedite our clinical development program and bring value to our shareholders.”
Dr. Perry Molinoff has more than 30 years experience in both academic and industrial sectors encompassing research on the molecular pharmacology of receptors and signal recognition and drug development from preclinical through clinical stages of commercialization. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania. He chaired the Department between 1981 and 1995.
Dr. Molinoff has also held several leadership positions in large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. He was vice president of neuroscience and genitourinary drug discovery for the Bristol-Meyers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute from 1995 to 2000. From 2000 to 2003, he served as executive vice president of R&D at Palatin Technologies. Between 2003 and 2006 he was Vice Provost for Research at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Molinoff has served on the boards of both public and private biotechnology companies, including Cypress Bioscience and Palatin Technologies.
Dr. Molinoff has authored or edited six books, including two editions of Basic Neurochemistry, the 9th edition of Goodman and Gilman’s The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics and more than 230 manuscripts. Dr. Molinoff earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from Harvard University and completed house officer’s training at the University of Chicago’s Hospitals and Clinics.
Dr. Molinoff remarked, “Ariel Pharmaceuticals has assembled a highly talented group of executives and advisors to ensure that opportunities for the company’s groundbreaking science are maximized. I greatly look forward to working with the highly accomplished individuals, including Dr. Stanton Newman, the newly appointed chairman of the scientific advisory board.”
Professor Stanton Newman, Ariel’s scientific advisory board chairman, was trained in neuropsychology in the U.S. and in clinical psychology in the UK. He is currently Dean of the School of Health Sciences at City University London where he heads the widely acclaimed interdisciplinary Health Services Research Group.
Dr. Newman has a specialist interest in cardiovascular disease, outcomes of cardiac surgery and interventions to encourage patients’ behavior change. Dr. Newman previously led the Brain and Cardiac Surgery Group at University College London, which has an international reputation for its work on the impact of cardiac surgery on the brain and strategies to reduce neuropsychological complications.
Dr. Newman is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and an Honorable Member of the Royal College of Physicians and has published widely in a range of medical and psychology journals with over 250 papers and chapters to date and has co-authored 10 books, including The Brain and Cardiac Surgery: Causes of Neurological Complications and Their Prevention.
Dr. Newman commented, “Ariel’s focus on conditions of the brain and nervous system is particularly well-suited to my expertise in neuropsychology and clinical trials. I welcome the opportunity to apply my experience to advancing the company’s pharmaceutical programs.”
About Ariel Pharmaceuticals, Inc:
Ariel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a private, specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of drugs that improve quality of life for patients with acute neurological disorders and trauma. Ariel is developing three drugs intended to meet unmet medical needs in migraine, hemorrhagic shock and post-operative cognitive decline. The company’s business strategy is based on in-licensing clinic-ready drugs in acute care clinical indications that have well-defined efficacy endpoints and substantial commercial opportunity to enable Ariel to rapidly build shareholder value. For more information, please visit: www.arielpharma.com
Ariel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Steve Orndorff, PhD
President & CEO
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