SAN DIEGO, March 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Mirati Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRTX) today announced that biotechnology industry veteran William Ringo has joined its board of directors.
"Bill has excellent experience in developing and driving strategies that have enabled success for both large pharmaceutical companies and start-up biotechs. Bill's experience and guidance will be extremely helpful as we enter a transformational year in the development of each of our programs and chart our strategy for the future of Mirati," noted Charles M. Baum, M.D.-Ph.D., president and CEO of Mirati.
"Mirati has established a strong leadership team as well as a business and clinical development model that is compelling and that represents a future direction for oncology drug development," commented Mr. Ringo. "The management team has done a tremendous job developing patient selection strategies for its pipeline of oncology drug candidates. I look forward to helping the team achieve its mission to bring potentially life-changing precision cancer medicines to the market."
Mr. Ringo has over 40 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. Currently, he serves as a senior advisor with investment bank Barclays Capital and also serves as a strategic advisor with Sofinnova Ventures. Previously, Mr. Ringo was senior vice president of strategy and business development for Pfizer before his retirement in 2010. He spent nearly 30 years with Eli Lilly and Company, serving in numerous executive roles, including product group president for oncology and critical care, president of internal medicine products, president of the infectious disease business unit and vice president of sales and marketing for U.S. pharmaceuticals. He has also served as president and CEO of Abgenix, an oncology-focused antibody company that was purchased by Amgen. He currently serves on the board of directors of Sangamo BioSciences, Ascendis Pharma and BioCrossroads, an Indiana initiative and public-private collaboration focused on growing, advancing and investing in life sciences. He also recently served on the board of directors for Onyx Pharmaceuticals until its acquisition by Amgen in 2013.
About Mirati Therapeutics
Mirati Therapeutics is a targeted oncology company developing an advanced pipeline of breakthrough medicines for precisely defined patient populations. Mirati's approach combines the three most important factors in oncology drug development - drug candidates with complementary and compelling targets, creative and agile clinical development, and a highly accomplished precision medicine leadership team. The Mirati team is using its proven blueprint for developing targeted oncology medicines to advance and maximize the value of its pipeline of drug candidates, including MGCD265 and MGCD516, which are orally bioavailable, multi-targeted kinase inhibitors with distinct target profiles, and mocetinostat, an orally bio-available, spectrum-selective histone deacetylase inhibitor. More information is available at www.mirati.com.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this news release, other than statements of fact that are independently verifiable at the date hereof, may constitute forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws). Such statements, based as they are on the current expectations of management of Mirati and upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions based on information currently available to it, inherently involve numerous risks and uncertainties, known and unknown, many of which are beyond Mirati's control. Such statements can usually be identified by the use of words such as "may", "would", "believe", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar terminology, or state that certain actions, events or results "may" or "would" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements in this release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the expected future contributions of Mr. Ringo, the advancement of Mirati's oncology pipeline and bringing medicines to market.
Whether actual results and developments will conform with our expectations and predictions is subject to a number of risks, assumptions and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, and the effects of which can be difficult to predict. These risks include those inherent in human resources matters and drug development, whether Mirati will be able to obtain financing when needed or on favorable terms, and other risks described in Mirati's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In evaluating any forward-looking statements in this release, Mirati cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, Mirati does not intend, nor does it undertake any obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this news release to reflect subsequent information, events, results or circumstances or otherwise.
SOURCE Mirati Therapeutics, Inc.