RADFORD, Va., April 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- New River Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced today that John Thottathil, Ph.D., has joined the company as Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Thottathil will lead the company’s research and discovery programs from its laboratories at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center in Blacksburg, Virginia, and will report to R. J. Kirk, New River’s Chief Executive Officer.
Kirk noted, “Dr. Thottathil brings to New River the skills and experience to manage complex projects and to lead cross-functional teams that deliver consistent results on schedule, on budget, and at the highest levels of quality. Our team looks forward to working with him to bolster our pipeline and to advance new compounds toward regulatory approval.”
Prior to joining New River, Dr. Thottathil served for over four years as the Director of Core Research and Development Chemistry, Diagnostic Division, at Abbott Laboratories. Prior to that, he worked at Bristol-Myers Squibb for 19 years in a variety of positions, most recently as Director of Outsourcing, Worldwide Process Research and Development, and earlier as Director of Chemical Process Research Departments in New Brunswick, NJ and Candiac, Canada. Several of his projects resulted in product launches; he has contributed to 60 patents, and has authored or co-authored more than 40 peer- reviewed publications.
He holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Organic Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India, and conducted post-doctoral research at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dr. Thottathil commented, “I am excited to join the New River team. I believe the company’s Carrierwave(TM) technology has tremendous potential to provide efficacious and safer alternatives to widely prescribed drugs. I look forward to working with the New River team to develop new applications for this technology and to advance products toward regulatory approval.”
About New River
New River Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing novel pharmaceuticals that are generational improvements of widely prescribed drugs in large and growing markets.
For further information on New River, please visit the Company’s Web site at http://www.nrpharma.com.
“SAFE HARBOR” STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995
This press release contains certain forward-looking information that is intended to be covered by the safe harbor for “forward-looking statements” provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward- looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. Words such as “expect(s),” “feel(s),” “believe(s),” “will,” “may,” “anticipate(s)” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements include, but are not limited to, financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions; statements regarding plans, objectives and expectations with respect to future operations, products and services; and statements regarding future performance. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of New River Pharmaceuticals, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include: those discussed and identified in the New River Pharmaceuticals Inc. annual report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on March 15, 2006; the timing, progress and likelihood of success of our product research and development programs; the timing and status of our preclinical and clinical development of potential drugs; the likelihood of success of our drug products in clinical trials and the regulatory approval process; our drug products’ efficacy, abuse and tamper resistance, onset and duration of drug action, ability to provide protection from overdose, ability to improve patients’ symptoms, incidence of adverse events, ability to reduce opioid tolerance, ability to reduce therapeutic variability, and ability to reduce the risks associated with certain therapies; the ability to develop, manufacture, launch and market our drug products; our projections for future revenues, profitability and ability to achieve certain sales targets; our estimates regarding our capital requirements and our needs for additional financing; the likelihood of obtaining favorable scheduling and labeling of our drug products; the likelihood of regulatory approval under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act without having to conduct long and costly trials to generate all of the data which are often required in connection with a traditional new chemical entity; our ability to develop safer and improved versions of widely prescribed drugs using our Carrierwave (TM) technology; and our ability to obtain favorable patent claims. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward- looking statements that speak only as of the date hereof. New River Pharmaceuticals does not undertake any obligation to republish revised forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Readers are also urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures in New River Pharmaceuticals’ annual report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on March 15, 2006, as well as other public filings with the SEC.
Contacts: The Ruth Group John Quirk (investors) 646-536-7029 jquirk@theruthgroup.com Zack Kubow (media) 646-536-7020 zkubow@theruthgroup.com
New River Pharmaceuticals Inc.
CONTACT: Investors - John Quirk, +1-646-536-7029, jquirk@theruthgroup.com,Media - Zack Kubow, +1-646-536-7020, zkubow@theruthgroup.com, both of TheRuth Group
Web site: http://www.nrpharma.com/
