SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.,
Dec. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Rigel
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: RIGL) today announced that it has
appointed Kamil Ali-Jackson to the
company's Board of Directors. Ms. Ali-Jackson brings nearly
four decades of biopharmaceutical industry experience to Rigel,
including expertise in negotiating licensing, joint-venture, and
M&A transactions to drive strategic growth.
"Kamil is a savvy businessperson, has a sharp transactional
mind, and is a serial entrepreneur who brings immense experience to
our board," said Raul Rodriguez,
president and CEO of Rigel. "Her experience as an international
transaction attorney, litigator, biotech founder, and
pharmaceutical executive makes her a valuable addition to the Rigel
team as we focus our business on mid to late-stage hematology,
oncology, and immunology therapies for the patients we
serve."
Ms. Ali-Jackson currently serves as the chief legal officer,
chief compliance officer, and corporate secretary for publicly
traded Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company that she co-founded in 2012 and led the
team which took the company public in 2015. She will be retiring
from her role at Aclaris on January 3,
2022.
Ms. Ali-Jackson has extensive transaction experience with
companies such as Merck & Co., Inc., Endo Pharmaceuticals,
Inc., and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Inc., including negotiating
acquisitions of intellectual property assets and licensing
agreements for drug products in various stages of development
across multiple therapeutic areas. She was the lead negotiator for
the acquisition of intellectual property rights for Merck's
billion-dollar human papillomavirus vaccine and legal counsel for
its gastroenterology product franchise, which led to the creation
of a multi-billion joint venture between Merck and Astra AB that
then became part of AstraZeneca.
Previously, Ms. Ali-Jackson co-founded and served as chief legal
officer, chief compliance officer, and general counsel for several
other private biopharmaceutical or specialty pharmaceutical
companies, including Ceptaris Therapeutics, Inc. and Ception
Therapeutics, Inc., both of which were successfully acquired in
multimillion-dollar acquisitions. She is currently a member
of the board of directors, audit and compensation committees, and
is the chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee
of PDS Biotechnology Corporation, a publicly-traded clinical-stage
immunotherapy company, as well as on the board of other private
companies. She is also an adjunct lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. She
received her J.D. from Harvard Law
School and her undergraduate degree in politics from
Princeton University.
"Throughout my career, my goal has always been to be a
significant contributor to the success of the businesses and
projects I touch," said Ms. Ali-Jackson. "I'm excited to work with
the Rigel management team and other board members in supporting the
growth of a therapeutic portfolio that is singularly focused on
addressing the needs of patients."
About Rigel
Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a
biotechnology company dedicated to developing and commercializing
novel small molecule drugs that significantly improve the lives of
patients with hematologic disorders, cancer and rare immune
diseases. Rigel's pioneering research focuses on signaling pathways
that are critical to disease mechanisms. The company's first
FDA-approved product is TAVALISSE® (fostamatinib
disodium hexahydrate) tablets, the only oral spleen tyrosine kinase
(SYK) inhibitor for the treatment of adult patients with chronic
immune thrombocytopenia who have had an insufficient response to a
previous treatment. The product is also commercially available in
Europe, the United Kingdom (TAVLESSE) and Canada (TAVALISSE) for the treatment of
chronic immune thrombocytopenia in adult patients.
Fostamatinib is currently being studied in a Phase 3 clinical
trial (NCT03764618) for the treatment of warm autoimmune hemolytic
anemia (wAIHA)1; a Phase 3 clinical trial (NCT04629703)
for the treatment of hospitalized high-risk patients with
COVID-191; an NIH/NHLBI-funded Phase 3 clinical trial
(ACTIV-4 Host Tissue Trial, NCT04924660) for the treatment of
COVID-19 in hospitalized patients, and a Phase 2 clinical trial
(NCT04581954) for the treatment of COVID-19 being conducted by
Imperial College London.
Rigel's other clinical programs include its interleukin
receptor-associated kinase (IRAK) inhibitor program and a
receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase (RIP1)
inhibitor program in clinical development with partner Eli Lilly
and Company. In addition, Rigel has product candidates in
development with partners AstraZeneca, BerGenBio ASA, and Daiichi
Sankyo.
For further information, visit www.rigel.com or follow us
on Twitter or LinkedIn.
Please see www.TAVALISSE.com for full Prescribing
Information.
1The product for this use or indication is
investigational and has not been proven safe or effective by any
regulatory authority.
Contact for Investors and Media:
Jodi Sievers – Rigel Pharmaceuticals
Phone: +1 (650) 624-1232
Email: ir@rigel.com
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SOURCE Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.