SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 15, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myriad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:MYRX) announced today that it has elected Timothy R. Franson, M.D. to its Board of Directors. Dr. Franson's term is effective as of September 10, 2009. With the addition of Dr. Franson, Myriad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. now has five independent Directors elected to its Board.
Dr. Franson was with Eli Lilly and Company for over 20 years, most recently as Vice President of Global Regulatory Affairs until his retirement from the Company in 2008. Previous positions held at Lilly include Director of Anti-Infectives, Executive Director of Regulatory Affairs for North American Regulatory, Chemistry Manufacturing Control, Planning & Global Operations and Vice President of Clinical Research and Regulatory Affairs-US. Dr. Franson has served as chair of the Clinical Steering Committee and as a member of the Regulatory Affairs Coordinating Committee of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers' Association (PhRMA) and, until recently, chaired PhRMA's FDA Committee Staff Work Group (2000-2008). He was co-chair of the joint FDA-industry working group addressing clinical aspects of the FDA Modernization Act of 1997, including the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) renewal; from 2000-2003 he co-chaired the overall industry-FDA committees for PDUFA-3 renewal. Dr. Franson is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, was Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin, where he was a member of the Governor's Task Force on AIDS, and he was also an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine.
"We believe that Dr. Franson represents an excellent strategic fit with our Board of Directors," said Adrian Hobden, President and Chief Executive Officer of Myriad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. "We look forward to his insight and guidance, garnered from his extensive background and experience in drug development, as we prepare to commercialize new therapeutics for individuals affected by AIDS and cancer."
About Myriad Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Myriad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing novel small molecule drugs that address severe medical conditions, including cancer and HIV infection. Our pipeline includes clinical and pre-clinical product candidates with distinct mechanisms of action and novel chemical structures that have the potential to be first-in-class and/or best-in-class therapeutics. For more information visit www.myriadpharma.com.
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This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These "forward-looking statements" are based on management's current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the risk that we may be unable to further identify, develop and achieve commercial success for new products and technologies; the risk that we may be unable to discover drugs that are safer and more efficacious than our competitors; the risk that we may be unable to develop and maintain manufacturing capabilities for our products; the possibility of delays in the research and development necessary to select drug development candidates and delays in clinical trials; the risk that clinical trials may not result in marketable products; the risk that we may be unable to successfully finance and secure regulatory approval of and market our drug candidates, or that clinical trials will not be completed on the timelines we have estimated; uncertainties about our ability to obtain new corporate collaborations and acquire new technologies on satisfactory terms, if at all; the development of competing products and services; the risk that we may be unable to protect our proprietary technologies; the risk of patent-infringement claims; risks of new, changing and competitive technologies and regulations in the United States and internationally; and other factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" contained in our Form 10 which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as any updates to those risk factors filed from time to time in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or Current Reports on Form 8-K. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and Myriad Pharmaceuticals undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.