AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 12, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pain Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:PTIE) today reported the appointment of Saira Ramasastry to its Board of Directors as an independent director. Saira Ramasastry is the Founder and Managing Partner of Life Sciences Advisory, LLC, a firm that provides strategic business advice for the biopharmaceutical industry. Previously, Saira was an investment banker at Merrill Lynch & Co., where she was responsible for originating M&A, strategic and capital markets transactions in the biotechnology industry. Prior to Merrill Lynch, she worked in the M&A group at Wasserstein Perella & Co.