SAN DIEGO, Dec. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that George A. Scangos, Ph.D., a member of the Board of Directors, will assume the position of Chairman, effective December 31, 2005. Dr. Scangos succeeds Jason S. Fisherman, M.D., who has served as Chairman since July 2000. Dr. Fisherman will resign from the Board of Directors at year-end but will continue to assist the company with strategic direction as a member of its Clinical and Scientific Advisory Board.
"We have been very fortunate to have George Scangos on our Board during these past two years of growth and transformation, and we are very pleased that he has accepted his new role as Chairman," said Kleanthis G. Xanthopoulos, Ph.D., Anadys' President and CEO.
"I am delighted to see Anadys fulfilling its strategic vision of becoming a leader in Toll-Like Receptor-based therapeutics," said Jason Fisherman, M.D. "I am confident the Board under Dr. Scangos' leadership will continue to move Anadys forward to develop novel treatments for hepatitis, other serious viral infections, and cancer."
"I want to thank Dr. Fisherman for his leadership and for his many contributions during the past formative years of the company," said Dr. Scangos. "Under his chairmanship, Anadys has moved from a start-up to an emerging biopharmaceutical company with two product candidates under development -- one in a Phase II clinical trial for hepatitis B virus and the other in a Phase Ib clinical trial for hepatitis C virus -- as well as a robust pipeline of preclinical candidates."
Dr. Scangos has served as a member of Anadys' Board of Directors since October 2003. He has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Exelixis, Inc. since 1996. From 1993 to 1996, Dr. Scangos served as President of Biotechnology at Bayer Corporation. At Bayer, he held several positions, including Senior Vice President of Research and Development for Bayer's pharmaceutical division and then President of Bayer Biotechnology.
Dr. Scangos serves on the Board of Visitors at the University of California, San Francisco School of Pharmacy, the Board of Overseers at the University of California, Davis Medical School and the Boards of Directors of Entelos, Inc., and Exelixis.
Dr. Fisherman is a Managing Director at Advent International, a global venture capital firm where he specializes in biotechnology and emerging pharmaceutical investments.
About Anadys
Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company committed to advancing patient care by discovering, developing and commercializing novel small molecule medicines for the treatment of hepatitis, other serious infections, and cancer. The Company has core expertise in Toll-Like Receptor-based small molecule therapeutics and structure-based drug design coupled with medicinal chemistry. Anadys' clinical development programs include ANA975 for the treatment of HCV and HBV, and ANA380 for the treatment of HBV. In addition, Anadys' therapeutic platform is designed to advance a strong and continual pipeline of drug candidates into the clinic.
Safe Harbor Statement
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical in nature constitute "forward-looking statements." Such statements include, but are not limited to, references to Anadys' strategic vision of becoming a leader in Toll-Like Receptor based therapeutics and Dr. Scangos' leadership in continuing to move Anadys forward to develop novel treatments for hepatitis, other serious viral infections, and cancer, as well as references to Anadys' pipeline. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause Anadys' actual results to be materially different from historical results or from any results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In particular, the results of initial clinical trials may not be predictive of future results, and Anadys cannot provide any assurances that any of its product candidates will have favorable results in future clinical trials or receive regulatory approval. In addition, Anadys' results may be affected by risks related to the implementation of its collaboration with Novartis, competition from other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, its effectiveness at managing its financial resources, its ability to successfully develop and market products, the level of effort that its collaborative partners devote to development and commercialization of its product candidates, difficulties or delays in its clinical trials, difficulties or delays in manufacturing its clinical trials materials, the scope and validity of patent protection for its products, regulatory developments involving future products and its ability to obtain additional funding to support its operations. These and other factors that may cause actual results to differ are more fully discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of Anadys' Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2005. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Anadys is providing this information as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this document as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc.CONTACT: Vince Reardon, Sr. Director, Investor Relations & CorporateCommunications, Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc., +1-858-530-3653,vreardon@anadyspharma.com
Web site: http://www.anadyspharma.com//
