SAN DIEGO, April 4, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lithera, Inc. announced today the appointment of Thomas G. Wiggans to its Board of Directors.
"Lithera is making substantial progress with LIPO-102 by generating positive results with selective, non-ablative localized fat reduction," said George Mahaffey, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lithera. "These encouraging developments will allow us to enter the next stages of corporate development. I have worked closely with Tom before and believe that his experience in successfully building and leading dermatology companies will be of great value as we advance our programs."
"I am impressed with the significant milestones Lithera has achieved in such a short period of time," said Mr. Wiggans. "I look forward to working with this proven team to further advance the company and its very exciting programs."
Mr. Wiggans most recently served as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Peplin, Inc., a dermatology company acquired in 2009 by LEO Pharma A/S. Prior to Peplin, Mr. Wiggans was the Chief Executive Officer of Connetics Corporation from 1994 until its acquisition by Stiefel Laboratories, Inc. in December 2006; he was also Chairman of the Board of Connetics from January 2006 until its acquisition. From 1992 to 1994, Mr. Wiggans served as President and Chief Operating Officer of CytoTherapeutics Inc. He served in various positions at the Ares-Serono Group from 1980 to 1992, including President of its U.S. pharmaceutical operations and Managing Director of its U.K. pharmaceutical operations. Mr. Wiggans is currently the founding Chief Executive Officer of a new dermatology company backed by Bay City Capital and also serves as a Director of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Sangamo Biosciences, Somaxon Pharmaceuticals and is Chairman of the Board at Excaliard Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Wiggans holds a B.S. in Pharmacy from the University of Kansas and an M.B.A. from Southern Methodist University.
About Lithera
Lithera is a clinical stage company developing pharmaceutical and biomedical products addressing both medical and lifestyle indications in ophthalmology and aesthetic medicine. Our lead product candidate (LIPO-102) is a novel injectable pharmaceutical product designed to produce local, selective fat tissue reduction (pharmaceutical lipoplasty). LIPO-102 is currently under development for the treatment of symptomatic exophthalmos (protrusion of the eye from the orbit) associated with thyroid-related eye disease (the thyroid condition is also known as Graves' Disease) and the reduction of abdominal adiposity. Founded in 2007, the Company has assembled an exceptional team of senior executives, employees and advisors and has been financed by top-tier venture capital firms. For more information on Lithera, Inc., please visit www.lithera.com.
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