CalciMedica Appoints Evelyn Graham to its Board of Directors

LA JOLLA, Calif., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- CalciMedica, a biotechnology company focused on developing innovative therapeutics for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, announced today that Evelyn Graham, the former Chief Executive Officer of TorreyPines Therapeutics, has been appointed as an independent director of the Company.

"As CalciMedica continues to execute on its business strategy and advance its lead drug program toward the clinic, Ev Graham's extensive experience in clinical development, corporate strategy and business development will be invaluable," said Gonul Velicelebi, Ph.D, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of CalciMedica. "Ev is an accomplished pharmaceutical executive and has earned wide respect in our industry for her diligence, integrity and strategic focus. We welcome Ev to CalciMedica's Board and look forward to working with her to shape our Company's future."

"It is an honor to join Gonul, the Board of Directors, and the CalciMedica team during this exciting period as the Company advances its first-in-class, small molecule immunomodulators toward key milestones," said Ms. Graham. "New mechanistic approaches that target the underlying causes of disease, such as CalciMedica's focus on selectively targeting CRAC channels, are critically needed. I believe that CalciMedica's novel drug discovery platform has significant potential to yield important new treatments for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases."

Evelyn Graham was formerly Chief Executive Officer and a director of TorreyPines Therapeutics, Inc., and led the company's merger with Raptor Pharmaceuticals Corp. in September 2009. Ms. Graham joined TorreyPines in 2004 as Vice President, Development; she became Vice President, Corporate Development in 2005 and Chief Operating Officer in 2006. Ms. Graham was Executive Director, Development Operations at Purdue Pharma from 2000 to 2003. From 1998 to 2000, Ms. Graham was Senior Vice President of Business Development at Ingenix Pharmaceutical Services, a division of UHG, and served as Vice President of Clinical Operations at Worldwide Clinical Trials, prior to its acquisition by UHG. Previously, Ms. Graham held positions in operations management, healthcare utilization, and organizational planning at Bayer Corporation and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (formerly Ayerst Laboratories). Ms. Graham holds a B.A. in biology from the University of Delaware and an M.B.A. from the University of Connecticut.

About CalciMedica, Inc.

CalciMedica is dedicated to the discovery and development of novel small molecule drugs for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. A significant focus of the company's drug discovery strategy is based on the specific inhibition of calcium release-activated calcium (CRAC) channels, a key component of the Icrac pathway in immune cells. The Icrac calcium entry pathway is essential for the adaptive immune response, and has been validated as an important drug target in humans. CalciMedica has acquired exclusive rights to STIM1 and Orai1 which function together as gatekeepers of the Icrac pathway and were cited in Science among signaling breakthroughs of 2005 and 2006, respectively. CalciMedica received its initial financing from SR One in December 2006 and closed its Series A in July 2007. The Series B financing was led by Sanderling Ventures, with participation from SR One, and closed in August 2007. The Series C round was led by Biogen Idec New Ventures, with participation from Sanderling Ventures and SR One, and closed in November 2008. CalciMedica is headquartered in La Jolla, California. For more information, please contact CalciMedica at info@calcimedica.com.

SOURCE CalciMedica, Inc.

CONTACT: Gonul Velicelebi of CalciMedica, Inc., +1-858-952-5501,
gonul@calcimedica.com

Web site: http://www.calcimedica.com/

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