Praveen Tyle, Ph.D. Joins Lexicon Pharma As Executive Vice President Of Research And Development

THE WOODLANDS, Texas, May 10, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: LXRX), today announced that Praveen Tyle, Ph.D. will join the company as its executive vice president of research and development, effective May 16, 2016, and will report to Lonnel Coats, Lexicon's president and chief executive officer.  Dr. Tyle recently served as president, chief executive officer and board member of Osmotica Holdings and Osmotica Pharmaceutical. 

Dr. Tyle joins Lexicon with more than 30 years of pharmaceutical industry experience of advancing new medical device and drug candidate pipelines to commercial success.  Dr. Tyle led and completed the successful merger of Vertical Pharmaceuticals and Trigen Laboratories with Osmotica Holdings in February 2016.  Dr. Tyle joined Osmotica as chief scientific officer and executive vice president in August 2012 before his promotion to president and chief executive officer in January 2013. 

Prior to Osmotica, Dr. Tyle's experience included service as executive vice president and chief science officer for the United States Pharmacopeia; senior vice president and global head of research and development & business development and licensing at Novartis OTC; corporate senior vice president of global research and development and chief scientific officer at Bausch + Lomb; and vice president and global head of pharmaceutical sciences at Pharmacia until its acquisition by Pfizer.

"We are pleased to have Praveen join Lexicon as our new head of research and development," said Lonnel Coats. "He will be instrumental in developing and progressing Lexicon's rich pipeline forward so that patients may benefit from continued treatment innovations for years to come."

Dr. Tyle earned his doctorate in pharmaceutics and pharmaceutical chemistry from the Ohio State University and his bachelor of pharmacy (honors) degree at the Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University in India.  He sits on a number of boards of directors and advisory committees including those at EyeGate Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Orient Europharma, Inc.; GrayBug, LLC; and Yolia Health.  Dr. Tyle has over 20 issued patents and over 130 scientific publications and presentations to his credit and has served as editor for seven books on drug development.

"I am looking forward to joining the Lexicon team, with the primary goal of developing the full commercial potential of the insightful science they have built," said Praveen Tyle, Ph.D. "Telotristat etiprate and sotagliflozin represent the beginning of what I believe will become a diverse and extensive long-term pipeline, built from Lexicon's in-house novel targets and potentially augmented by complementary in-licensed opportunities."

About Lexicon

Lexicon is a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company that is applying a unique approach to gene science based on Nobel Prize-winning technology to discover and develop precise medicines for patients with serious, chronic conditions. Through its Genome5000 program, Lexicon scientists have studied the role and function of nearly 5,000 genes over the last 20 years and have identified more than 100 protein targets with significant therapeutic potential in a range of diseases. Through the precise targeting of these proteins, Lexicon is pioneering the discovery and development of innovative medicines to safely and effectively treat disease. Lexicon has a pipeline of promising drug candidates in clinical and pre-clinical development in oncology, diabetes and metabolism. For additional information please visit. www.lexpharma.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains "forward-looking statements," including statements relating to Lexicon's growth and future operating results, discovery and development of products, strategic alliances and intellectual property, as well as other matters that are not historical facts or information.  All forward-looking statements are based on management's current assumptions and expectations and involve risks, uncertainties and other important factors, specifically including those relating to Lexicon's ability to meet its capital requirements, successfully conduct preclinical and clinical development of its drug candidates, obtain necessary regulatory approvals, achieve its operational objectives, obtain patent protection for its discoveries and establish strategic alliances, as well as additional factors relating to manufacturing, intellectual property rights, and the therapeutic or commercial value of its drug candidates, that may cause Lexicon's actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.  Information identifying such important factors is contained under "Risk Factors" in Lexicon's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Lexicon undertakes no obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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SOURCE Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.