SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.,
Nov. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/
-- Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:RIGL) today
announced that Gregg Lapointe, CPA, MBA has been appointed to
Rigel's board of directors. Currently the chief executive
officer (CEO) and co-founder of Cerium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Mr.
Lapointe offers Rigel's board nearly three decades of commercial
and financial experience bringing products to market in the areas
of medical devices and rare diseases.
"We look forward to working with Mr. Lapointe and feel confident
that his experience will be invaluable as we transition our company
into a commercial entity," said Raul Rodriguez, president and
chief executive officer of Rigel. "Mr. Lapointe understands the
challenges and opportunities involved with introducing a new
treatment to the rare disease community and we anticipate that his
strategic counsel will help guide us to success as we complete our
first New Drug Application review with the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration."
A certified public accountant and graduate of the Duke University Fuqua School of Business, Mr.
Lapointe began his career in accounting as well as mergers and
acquisition in Montreal, Canada
before moving into a leadership role at Ingram & Bell Meditron
and Medical Plastic Devices MPD Inc. In 2001, Mr. Lapointe joined
Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he rose from vice president
of finance to chief executive officer, overseeing a company focused
exclusively on the development and commercialization of medicines
for rare diseases. During his tenure, the company grew to nine
marketed products in the rare disease space (small molecule,
biologics, medical foods) with an extensive clinical development
pipeline. In 2012, Mr. Lapointe founded and became the CEO of
Cerium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a start-up focused on developing and
commercializing medicines for patients with rare diseases.
Presently, Mr. Lapointe also sits on the board of Soligenix, Inc.
and Cytori Therapeutics, Inc. He previously sat on the board of
SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc., ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Inc.,
Raptor Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and
Cambrooke Therapeutics, Inc., among others. From 2009 to 2012, Mr.
Lapointe was a member of the Board of Directors, and Chair of the
Rare Disease Committee, of the Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) in Washington, DC.
"It's an exciting time to join Rigel as the company approaches
an important milestone, the possible FDA approval of fostamatinib
in chronic immune thrombocytopenia," said Mr. Lapointe. "There
is huge opportunity to serve in-need patient communities and
investors when rare disease becomes the focus. I very much look
forward to offering my perspective and experience as they advance
their clinical program and invest in their future pipeline."
About Rigel (www.rigel.com)
Rigel
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biotechnology company dedicated to
discovering, developing and providing novel small molecule drugs
that significantly improve the lives of patients with immune and
hematological disorders, cancer and rare diseases. Rigel's
pioneering research focuses on signaling pathways that are critical
to disease mechanisms. The company's current clinical programs
include clinical trials of fostamatinib, an oral spleen tyrosine
kinase (SYK) inhibitor, in a number of indications. Rigel has
submitted, and the FDA has accepted for review, an NDA for
fostamatinib in patients with chronic or persistent immune
thrombocytopenia (ITP). In addition, Rigel has product candidates
in development with partners BerGenBio AS, Daiichi Sankyo and
Aclaris Therapeutics.
Forward Looking Statements
This release
contains forward-looking statements relating to, among other
things, the ability of Rigel to transition to a commercial stage
company and possibly gain approval to its NDA. Any statements
contained in this press release that are not statements of
historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements.
Words such as "planned," "will," "possible," "expect," and similar
expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements are based on Rigel's
current expectations and inherently involve significant risks and
uncertainties. Actual results and the timing of events could differ
materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking
statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties, which
include, without limitation, the FDA may not approve
Rigel's submitted NDA; as well as other risks detailed from time to
time in Rigel's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the
period ended June 30, 2017. Rigel does not undertake any
obligation to update forward-looking statements and expressly
disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any
updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained
herein.
Contact: Ryan D. Maynard
Phone: 650.624.1284
Email: invrel@rigel.com
Media Contact: Jessica Daitch
Phone: 917.816.6712
Email: jessica.daitch@inventivhealth.com
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SOURCE Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.