SAN DIEGO, Jan. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today the hiring of John Z. Sullivan-Bolyai, M.D., MPH, as Vice President, Clinical Affairs. Dr. Sullivan-Bolyai, who brings more than 17 years of clinical research and development experience, will be responsible for antiviral clinical development, including ANA380. Dr. Sullivan-Bolyai will report to James L. Freddo, M.D., Chief Medical Officer.
“We are pleased to welcome John to Anadys,” said Lawrence C. Fritz, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer. “As we prepare to advance the development of our antiviral compounds in 2007, John will be responsible for the overall planning of clinical research activities and will take charge of effective execution of the domestic and international antiviral clinical programs on behalf of Anadys.”
“John brings to Anadys specific expertise in viral hepatitis, having played a critical leadership role at Valeant in the clinical development of pradefovir for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B infection,” said Dr. Freddo. “He has an outstanding record of directing clinical research and development activities to advance product-candidate portfolios in multiple therapeutic areas, including HIV. I’m confident John will make a significant contribution to Anadys in the coming years.”
Dr. Sullivan-Bolyai had been Assistant Vice President, Research and Development for Valeant Pharmaceuticals International in Costa Mesa, CA since 2005. At Valeant he was responsible for all medical aspects of pradefovir, Valeant’s nucleotide prodrug program for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B infection. Previously, he held executive positions at Biomeasure, Inc., a subsidiary of Ipsen-Beaufour, in Milford, MA, including Senior Medical Director (2002-2005) and Medical Director (1997-2002). From 1996 to 1997 he was Medical Director, Metabolic & Immune Therapy Strategic Business Unit, at Serono Laboratories in Norwell, MA. Prior to this, he held various leadership positions at Hoffmann-La Roche in Nutley, NJ, including Director, Clinical Science (1995-1996), Associate Director, Virology and AIDS Research (1991-1995), and Assistant Director, Virology and AIDS Research (1989-1991).
Dr. Sullivan-Bolyai holds an AB degree and a BMS degree from Dartmouth College and Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH, respectively. He received a MD from the University of Washington, School of Medicine and a MPH from the University of Washington, School of Public Health, Seattle, WA. He completed his fellowship training at Children’s Orthopedic Hospital and Medical Center, Seattle, WA.
About Anadys
Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc., www.anadyspharma.com, is a biopharmaceutical company committed to advancing patient care by discovering, developing and commercializing novel small molecule medicines for the treatment of viral diseases and cancer. The Company has core expertise in developing Toll-Like Receptor-based small molecule therapeutics and utilizing structure-based drug design coupled with medicinal chemistry to identify new product candidates. Anadys is developing compounds for the treatment of hepatitis C infection, hepatitis B infection and cancer.
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’ plan to advance the development of antiviral compounds in 2007 and the objective to effectively execute both the domestic and international antiviral clinical programs. 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, there is no guarantee that the FDA will lift the clinical hold on the ANA975 IND, that Anadys and Novartis will be able to agree on future development activities for ANA975 or that the clinical development of ANA975 will be able to be resumed. In addition, 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 not have unforeseen safety issues, will have favorable results in future clinical trials or will receive regulatory approval. Furthermore, Anadys’ results may be affected by risks related to its collaborative relationships with Novartis and LG Life Sciences, 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 pre-clinical studies or 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. Risk factors that may cause actual results to differ are more fully discussed in Anadys’ SEC filings, including Anadys’ Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005 and the “Risk Factors” section of Anadys’ Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2006. 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/
