SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the appointments of two significant additions to the company’s senior management team. Jonathan Leff, M.D., previously Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc., has been named Chief Medical Officer. Gary A. Lyons, former President and Chief Executive Officer of Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc., has been elected to the KaloBios Board of Directors.
“Jonathan Leff brings to the KaloBios team more than 16 years experience within both large and small companies in the development of biologics, from research and development with early stage molecules to global regulatory filing, approval and product launch. Gary Lyons has over 30 years of senior management experience within the biopharmaceutical industry, most recently as President and CEO of Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc., a public biotechnology company focused on neurological and endocrine diseases and disorders,” said David W. Pritchard, KaloBios President and CEO. “Their extensive track record in the development and commercialization of biologics will serve KaloBios well as we enter the next phase of our company’s evolution as a developer of patient-targeted monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics.”
Prior to joining Halozyme in 2009, Jonathan Leff managed the worldwide clinical development and registration for MabThera®/Rituxan®, ocrelizumab, and Actemra® while the Vice President and Global Head of Inflammation Clinical Development at Roche from 2008-2009. From 2002 to 2007, Dr. Leff held various jobs, including Vice President North American Medical Affairs at Amgen, where he led the medical affairs department of 500 professionals, and earlier oversaw conduct of late stage clinic testing in five therapeutic areas. From 1994 to 2002, Dr. Leff was at Merck, where he performed Phase I-IV research studies for Singulair®. He received his M.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Prior to joining Neurocrine, Gary Lyons held a number of senior management positions at Genentech, Inc., including Vice President of Business Development, Vice President of Sales, and Director of Sales and Marketing. In addition to serving on the board of directors of KaloBios, he also currently serves on the boards of directors of Neurocrine Biosciences, Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Vical Incorporated and Poniard Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Lyons holds a B.S. degree in Marine Biology from the University of New Hampshire and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University's J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
About KaloBios
KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a South San Francisco, California based private company, is developing a proprietary portfolio of patient-targeted, first-in-class monoclonal antibodies (mAb) designed to significantly improve the lives of seriously ill patients with difficult-to-treat diseases. KaloBios’ experts create optimized drug candidates by engineering antibodies with little to no immunogenicity through its proprietary Humaneering™ technology, and then add features to enhance the antibody’s performance. Using this technology, KaloBios has developed multiple patient-targeted drug candidates that are currently in clinical trials with the potential to treat large unmet medical needs as well as specialty diseases. Currently, KaloBios has three programs in development: KB001, an anti-PcrV mAb fragment targeted against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, is partnered with Sanofi Pasteur for the large hospital infections market, while KaloBios has rights to the orphan indication of cystic fibrosis; KB003, an anti-GM-CSF mAb that is being evaluated for inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and asthma; and KB004, an anti-EphA3 mAb that has potential application in hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. For more information, visit http://www.kalobios.com.
CONTACT:
KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
David W. Pritchard, 650-243-3100
President and CEO
or
Kureczka/Martin Associates (Media)
Joan E. Kureczka, 415-821-2413
415-690-0210 (Mobile)
[email protected]
KEYWORDS: United States North America California
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Health Biotechnology Clinical Trials Pharmaceutical Research Science
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