SAN DIEGO, Nov. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Metabasis Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that Dr. Mark Erion, Metabasis’ Executive Vice President of Research and Development, has been named to the additional post of Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Erion is one of Metabasis’ founders and has served as Executive Vice President of Research and Development since April 1997 and on the Company’s board of directors since June 1999. Prior to joining Metabasis, Dr. Erion spent six years with Gensia, Inc., where he began as Director of Chemistry and Biochemistry and became responsible in 1996 for the Research Department. Prior to joining Gensia, Dr. Erion was a Group Leader at Ciba-Geigy Pharmaceutical Company. Dr. Erion’s research has resulted in over 92 publications and 31 U.S. patents. His discovery efforts over the past 14 years have produced nine clinical candidates, several research collaborations and our HepDirect and NuMimetic technologies. Dr. Erion received a B.S. in mathematics and chemistry from the University of Oregon, a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Cornell University and was a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow in enzymology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
About Metabasis (www.mbasis.com):
Metabasis Therapeutics, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company uniquely focused on the discovery, development and eventual commercialization of novel drugs to address some of the world’s most widespread and costly chronic diseases involving pathways in the liver. The Company has established a pipeline that includes clinical stage and preclinical product candidates targeting large markets with significant unmet medical needs. Targeted diseases include major metabolic diseases such as diabetes, hyperlipidemia and obesity as well as liver diseases such as hepatitis and primary liver cancer. Metabasis has developed several proprietary technologies for use in discovering and optimizing drugs, including the NuMimetic(TM) and HepDirect(TM) technologies. Metabasis is continuing to identify and develop new product candidates using its proprietary technologies and expertise.
Metabasis Therapeutics, Inc.
CONTACT: Paul Laikind, Ph.D., Chairman, CEO & President of MetabasisTherapeutics, Inc., +1-858-622-5550
Web site: http://www.mbasis.com/
