GERMANTOWN, Md., Nov. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. , a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule therapeutics, today announced the appointment of Todd R. Golub, M.D., to the newly created position of Chairman, Scientific Advisory Board effective October 26, 2006.
“We are very fortunate to have a visionary of Dr. Golub’s stature to lead our Scientific Advisory Board at this pivotal point in our development,” said Kenneth C. Carter, Ph.D., President and CEO of Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. “Dr. Golub’s credentials in research and, like Avalon, his particular experience as a fellow pioneer in developing better medicines using molecular profiling will assist our company as we move ahead with our discovery and development programs.”
Dr. Golub is a founding member of the Broad Institute, a collaboration of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard and its affiliated Hospitals, and the Whitehead Institute, created to bring the power of genomics to medicine. Dr. Golub serves as director of its Cancer Program. He is a leader in applying genomic tools to the classification and study of cancers. He has made fundamental discoveries in the molecular basis of childhood leukemia, and pioneered the use of molecular profiling approaches, particularly DNA micoarrays, to cancer biology. Dr. Golub is also an Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School and is the Charles A. Dana Investigator in Cancer Genetics, at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. He also serves as an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His current Hospital appointments include Assistant in Medicine at Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, and Attending Physician, Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
Dr. Golub joins an already distinguished Avalon Scientific Advisory Board that consists of Brian J. Druker, M.D., Chairman of Leukemia Research and Professor of Medicine at Oregon Health and Science University Cancer Institute, who is widely recognized for his seminal contributions to the discovery and development of Gleevec, one of the first molecularly targeted cancer drugs; William A. Scott, Ph.D., a current member of the Avalon Board of Directors and the former Senior Vice President of Drug Discovery Research at Bristol-Meyers Squibb; and Paul Workman, Ph.D., Director of the Centre for Cancer Therapeutics/ Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, United Kingdom, who is considered a leader in the use of molecular profiling approaches in cancer research.
“I am pleased to be associated with Avalon Pharmaceuticals at this time,” stated Dr. Golub. “I am very impressed with Avalon’s approach to drug discovery and their use of molecular profiling approaches to understanding cancer biology.”
In addition to Dr. Golub’s current position he has also served at the Whitehead/MIT Center for Genome Research as the Director, Cancer Genomics, and Group Leader, Functional Genomics. He was a Research Fellow in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School; a Fellow in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Children’s Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Golub performed his residency and internship in Medicine at Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA.
Dr. Golub has received numerous awards including the Discover Magazine’s Inventor of the Year (Health Category) in 2000, the Judson Daland Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Investigation of the American Philosophical Society in 2001, and the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American Association for Cancer Research in 2002.
Dr. Golub received his B.A. in 1985 from Carleton College and his M.D. in 1989 from the University Of Chicago Pritzker School Of Medicine.
About Avalon Pharmaceuticals
Avalon Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule therapeutics through the use of a comprehensive, innovative and proprietary suite of technologies based upon large-scale gene expression analysis which it calls AvalonRx(R). This platform facilitates drug discovery by expanding the range of therapeutic targets for drug intervention, including targets and target pathways frequently considered intractable using conventional HTS approaches, allows more informed decisions about which compounds to advance towards clinical trials, and facilitates drug development through identification of biomarkers of efficacy that can stratify patients or provide early indicators of response. Avalon’s focus is oncology but the company has discovery programs in other therapeutic areas with partners. Avalon Pharmaceuticals was established in 1999 and is headquartered in Germantown, Maryland.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to risks, uncertainty and changes in circumstances, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from anticipated results, performance or achievements. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature are forward looking. Economic, business, competitive and/or regulatory factors affecting Avalon’s business are examples of factors, among others, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are also expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements included in Avalon’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and its annual report on Form 10-K. Avalon is under no obligation to (and expressly disclaims any such obligation to) update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contacts: Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Noonan Russo Gary Lessing Wendy Lau (Media) Executive Vice President & CFO Tel: (212) 845-4272 Tel: (301) 556-9900 Fax: (301) 556-9910 The Trout Group LLC Email: info@avalonrx.com Chad Rubin (Investors) Tel: (212) 477-9007 ext. 47
Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
CONTACT: Gary Lessing, Executive Vice President & CFO of AvalonPharmaceuticals, Inc., +1-301-556-9900, Fax: +1-301-556-9910,info@avalonrx.com; or Media: Wendy La of Noonan Russo, +1-212-845-4272; orInvestors: Chad Rubin of The Trout Group LLC, +1-212-477-9007 ext. 47; bothfor Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
