SAN DIEGO, March 23, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Retrophin, Inc. (NASDAQ:RTRX) today announced the appointment of John A. Orwin to the Company’s Board of Directors, effective immediately. Mr. Orwin currently serves as chief executive officer of Relypsa, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing treatments for patients with conditions that are often overlooked and undertreated.
“John’s operational and commercial expertise strengthens our Board and will be invaluable to Retrophin as we advance our late-stage pipeline towards commercialization while maximizing the potential of our approved therapies,” said Stephen Aselage, chief executive officer of Retrophin. “We are very pleased John is joining us at this exciting time and look forward to his leadership.”
Mr. Orwin is a biopharmaceutical industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience. He has served as chief executive officer of Relypsa since 2013. Previously, Mr. Orwin was chief executive officer and a director of Affymax. Before joining Affymax, Mr. Orwin held leadership positions in marketing, sales, and operations at Genentech, Johnson and Johnson, Alza Pharmaceuticals, Sangstat Medical Corporation, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, and Schering-Plough. Mr. Orwin currently serves as a director of Seattle Genetics and Array BioPharma. Mr. Orwin earned a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University and master’s degree in business administration from New York University.
About Retrophin
Retrophin is a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company dedicated to delivering life-changing therapies to people living with rare diseases who have few, if any, treatment options. The Company's approach centers on its pipeline featuring late-stage candidates targeting rare diseases with significant unmet medical needs, including sparsentan for focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a disorder characterized by progressive scarring of the kidney often leading to end-stage renal disease, and RE-024 for pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration (PKAN), a life-threatening neurological disorder that typically begins in early childhood. Research exploring the potential of early-stage assets in several rare diseases is also underway. Retrophin's R&D efforts are supported by revenues from the Company's commercial products, Thiola®, Cholbam®, and Chenodal®.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, regarding the research, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products. Without limiting the foregoing, these statements are often identified by the words "may", "might", "believes", "thinks", "anticipates", "plans", "expects", "intends" or similar expressions. In addition, expressions of our strategies, intentions or plans are also forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including factors that could delay, divert or change any of them, and could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from current expectations. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements are risks and uncertainties associated with the Company's business and finances in general, success of its commercial products as well as risks and uncertainties associated with the Company's pre-clinical and clinical stage pipeline. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as there are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, many of which are beyond our control. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Investors are referred to the full discussion of risks and uncertainties as included in the Company's most recent 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.