ANN ARBOR, Mich., May 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Synthetic
Biologics, Inc. (NYSE Amex: SYN), a developer of synthetic
DNA-based therapeutics and innovative disease-modifying medicines
for serious illnesses, announced today that to improve its
corporate governance and strengthen the Board, it has split the
roles of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and appointed
Jeffrey J. Kraws to serve as its
independent, non-executive Chairman of the Board. Mr. Kraws has
served on the Company's Board of Directors since January 2006, and will continue to serve on the
Compensation and Nominations Committees.
Mr. Kraws is Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Crystal
Research Associates. Well known and respected on Wall Street, Mr.
Kraws has received some of the most prestigious awards in the
industry. Among other awards, he was given a "5-Star Rating" in
2001 by Zacks and was ranked the number one analyst among all
pharmaceutical analysts for stock performance in 2001 by
Starmine.com. Prior to founding Crystal Research Associates in
2003, Mr. Kraws served as co-president of The Investor Relations
Group, a firm representing primarily under-followed,
small-capitalization companies. Previously, Mr. Kraws served as a
managing director of healthcare research for Ryan Beck & Co. and as director of
research/senior pharmaceutical analyst and managing director at
Gruntal & Co., LLC (prior to its merger with Ryan Beck & Co.). Mr. Kraws served as
managing director of the healthcare research group and senior
pharmaceutical analyst at First Union Securities (formerly EVEREN
Securities); as senior U.S. pharmaceutical analyst for the
Swedish-Swiss conglomerate Asea Brown Boveri; and as managing
director and president of the Brokerage/Investment Banking
operation of ABB Aros Securities, Inc. He also served as senior
pharmaceutical analyst at Nationsbanc Montgomery Securities, BT
Alex Brown & Sons, and Buckingham Research. Mr. Kraws also has
industry experience, having been responsible for competitive
analysis within the treasury group at Bristol-Myers-Squibb Company.
He holds an MBA from Cornell University
and a BS degree from State University of New
York-Buffalo.
"We congratulate Jeff on his appointment as independent Chairman
of the Synthetic Biologics' Board. This important step strengthens
Synthetic Biologics' corporate governance practices," stated
Jeffrey Riley, Chief Executive
Officer, President and Director of the Board at Synthetic
Biologics. "Jeff's life science experience will be instrumental in
guiding our business and strategic development initiatives."
Upon his appointment Mr. Kraws stated, "I look forward to
working closely with Jeff as the Company continues to build its
pipeline of synthetic DNA-based therapeutics and innovative
medicines for serious illnesses. Transitioning the Chairman role to
an independent board member should allow our CEO and his management
team to focus on the operations of the Company, with the ultimate
objective of increasing value for our shareholders."
About Synthetic Biologics, Inc.
Synthetic Biologics is a biotechnology company focused on the
development of synthetic DNA-based therapeutics and innovative
disease-modifying medicines for serious illnesses. Synthetic
Biologics is developing, or has partnered the development of,
product candidates for the treatment of pulmonary arterial
hypertension (PAH), relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS),
cognitive dysfunction in MS, fibromyalgia and amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS). For more information, please visit Synthetic
Biologics' website at www.syntheticbiologics.com.
This release includes forward-looking statements on Synthetic
Biologics' current expectations and projections about future
events. In some cases forward-looking statements can be identified
by terminology such as "may," "should," "potential," "continue,"
"expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes,"
"estimates," and similar expressions. These statements are
based upon current beliefs, expectations and assumptions and are
subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are
difficult to predict and include statements regarding the effects
of appointing an independent, non-executive Chairman. The
forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set
forth or implied by any forward-looking statements. Important
factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those reflected in Synthetic Biologics'
forward-looking statements include, among others, a failure to
maintain and attract independent board members, a failure by us to
achieve desired results from our clinical development programs, a
failure by us to successfully commercialize our product candidates,
a failure to increase shareholder value and other factors described
in Synthetic Biologics' report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2011 and any
other filings with the SEC. The information in this release
is provided only as of the date of this release, and Synthetic
Biologics undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking
statements contained in this release on account of new information,
future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.
SOURCE Synthetic Biologics, Inc.