PT. RICHMOND, Calif., July 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Transcept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the appointment of Terrence Moore to the position of Vice President, Marketing and Sales and Susan Koppy to the position of Vice President, Corporate Development. Both Mr. Moore and Ms. Koppy will report to President & Chief Executive Officer Glenn A. Oclassen. “We are pleased to welcome both Terry and Susan to the senior management team at Transcept,” said Mr. Oclassen. “Terry’s extensive neuroscience marketing and sales management experience will be a tremendous asset to Transcept as we prepare to commercialize our lead product candidate, Intermezzo(R). Susan is an experienced senior business development executive and she will be a key contributor to Transcept’s future success by identifying and securing new product opportunities and developing new partner relationships.”
Mr. Moore brings over twenty years of sales, marketing, and business development experience in the pharmaceutical industry to his new role at Transcept. He has demonstrated exceptional results as a senior member of management teams at Organon Biosciences (now Schering Plough), Wyeth, Johnson & Johnson, and Eli Lilly. His contributions include building multi-billion dollar brands such as Prozac(R), Zyprexa(R), Risperdal(R), and Effexor XR(R). Immediately prior to joining Transcept, Mr. Moore served as Vice President of the Neuroscience Therapeutic Area for Organon Biosciences and was responsible for the creation and building of the Neuroscience Business Unit. Before joining Organon Biosciences, Mr. Moore served as Vice President, U.S. Marketing, Effexor XR(R) as well as Vice President, Global Strategy Depression Portfolio for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Moore holds a BS in Pharmacy from the University of Florida, a BA in Chemistry from the University of South Florida and has taken additional executive level courses at the Wharton and Kellogg Schools of Business.
“I am delighted to join the Transcept management team at such an exciting time in the company’s development,” said Mr. Moore. “Intermezzo(R) has the potential to become an innovative low dose solution for insomnia patients who wake up in the middle of the night and want to go back to sleep quickly. Intermezzo(R) will enable patients to treat their middle of the night awakening only when it occurs, rather than having to take a high dose, 8 hour medication at bedtime. I’m thrilled to be a part of a team dedicated to developing and commercializing innovative neuroscience-based products.”
Susan Koppy has over 20 years of experience in marketing and business development in the biopharmaceutical industry and has lived and worked in the U.S., Europe and Japan. She has negotiated a number of major multi-billion dollar agreements and is a frequent speaker on business development issues. Prior to joining Transcept, Susan Koppy served as Senior Vice President, Business and Corporate Development at Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Previously, Ms. Koppy was Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Applied Biosystems, Inc. (ABI) with responsibility for evaluation and pursuit of licensing and acquisition opportunities. Before joining ABI, Ms. Koppy served as the Director of Business Development for Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation where she was responsible for global business development opportunities in Infectious Diseases and was a key contributor to the formation of the strategic alliance between Idenix and Novartis. Ms. Koppy also served as the Head of Commercial and Business Intelligence for Novartis Pharma AG and worked in Early Commercial Development with the Respiratory and Immunology therapeutic areas. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Genetics and Cell Biology from the University of Minnesota.
“I am excited to join a team of executives with extensive experience in both pharmaceutical development and commercialization,” said Ms. Koppy. “I look forward to leading the Transcept effort to build partner relationships and to license development programs.”
About Intermezzo(R)
Transcept Pharmaceuticals’ lead product candidate, Intermezzo(R) (zolpidem tartrate sublingual lozenge) employs the company’s proprietary Bimucoral(R) technology in a mint-flavored, sublingual lozenge formulated to dissolve under the tongue in approximately two minutes. This novel pH modification delivery system has been shown to accelerate the bioavailability of zolpidem, despite the substantially lower Intermezzo(R) dose vs. the doses employed with previously available forms of this active agent.
About Transcept Pharmaceuticals
Transcept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company deriving significant new patient benefits from proven CNS drugs. Transcept development projects leverage new understanding of CNS conditions to provide additional uses and enhanced clinical benefits for existing active agents. The lead Transcept product candidate, Intermezzo(R) (zolpidem tartrate lozenge), is a low dose formulation of zolpidem for the treatment of insomnia in patients who awaken in the middle of the night and have difficulty returning to sleep. Phase 3 clinical trials have been completed for Intermezzo(R) and Transcept plans to submit an NDA in the third quarter of 2008. Transcept is also developing TO-2060, a novel, fixed-dose combination of olanzapine and ondansetron for the treatment of dopamine associated psychiatric disorders. For further information, please visit the Company’s website at: http://www.transcept.com.
CONTACT: Michael Gill, Director of Communications of Transcept
Pharmaceuticals, Inc., +1-510-215-3575, mgill@transcept.com; or Investors -
Media, Stephanie Carrington, +1-646-536-7017, scarrington@theruthgroup.com,
or Jason Rando, +1-646-536-7025, jrando@theruthgroup.com, both of The Ruth
Group, for Transcept Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Web site: http://www.transcept.com/
