Peter M. Strumph Named CEO of Nile Therapeutics

BERKELEY, Calif., May 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Nile Therapeutics, Inc., a development stage biopharmaceutical company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Peter M. Strumph as its Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Strumph has more than 15 years of experience in biotechnology development, operations and commercialization and over a decade of experience in cardiovascular drug development.

"I am extremely excited to join Nile as its Chief Executive Officer and look forward to leading the successful development of our lead compound, CD-NP. This novel drug has the potential to address a major unmet cardiovascular medical need, and I believe that we have a unique opportunity to change patients' lives and transform the heart failure treatment paradigm," said Mr. Strumph.

"We are delighted to welcome Mr. Strumph to the Nile team. His extensive experience in pharmaceutical development and operations in the cardiovascular space will make him instrumental to the company's success as Nile continues to develop CD-NP and expand its pipeline," said Peter M. Kash, Chairman, Two River Group Holdings, LLC.

Prior to joining Nile, Mr. Strumph served as the Senior Vice President, Operations for CV Therapeutics, Inc., ("CVT"), which discovers, develops, commercializes and sells cardiovascular therapeutic products. At CVT, Mr. Strumph had responsibility for several functions, including pharmaceutical development and manufacturing, marketing, quality assurance/control, clinical trial operations, project management and alliance management. Additionally, Mr. Strumph was a member of the CEO Executive Staff and served as the Chair of the Product Development Committee.

Mr. Strumph joined CVT in 1997 as Director, Product Development. From 1997 to 2004 he was the Project Team Leader for CVT's lead program Ranexa(TM), an FDA approved treatment for chronic angina. He was instrumental in leading the team that moved the drug through the clinical development process. Mr. Strumph also played a key role in the planning and conduct of the 6500 patient MERLIN TIMI-36 outcomes study. Prior to joining CVT, from 1994 to 1997, Mr. Strumph served as Manager, Operations Planning and Development at Biogen, Inc. where he played an active role in Biogen's transition from a research based company to a fully integrated profitable biotechnology company.

Mr. Strumph received his MBA in Finance and Healthcare Management from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and his B.A.S., in Systems Science and Engineering from The University of Pennsylvania. He also served as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy.

About Nile Therapeutics, Inc.

Nile Therapeutics is a development stage biopharmaceutical company that is developing innovative products for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. Nile is currently in phase I clinical development of its lead compound, CD-NP, for the treatment of heart failure. CD-NP is a second-generation natriuretic peptide developed by scientists at the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research ("Mayo"). Nile also holds intellectual property on a suite of chimeric natriuretic peptides with potential safety and efficacy advantages over native natriuretic peptides such as ANP or BNP. A key component of the Company's strategy is to acquire the global rights to additional product candidates in cardiovascular indications.

Contact: Peter M. Strumph Chief Executive Officer Nile Therapeutics, Inc. 510-281-7700 info@nilethera.com

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results and experiences to differ materially from anticipated results and expectations expressed in such forward-looking statement. These statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations as to such future outcomes. Drug discovery and development involve a high degree of risk. Factors that might cause such a material difference include, among others, uncertainties related to the ability to attract and retain partners for our technologies, the identification of lead compounds, the successful preclinical development thereof, the completion of clinical trials, the FDA review process and other governmental regulation, our pharmaceutical collaborator's ability to successfully develop and commercialize drug candidates, competition from other pharmaceutical companies, and product pricing and third party reimbursement. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement contained in this press release, except as required by law.

CONTACT: Peter M. Strumph, Chief Executive Officer of Nile Therapeutics,Inc., +1-510-281-7700, info@nilethera.com