ABGX Abgenix (MM)

Abgenix Appoints Donald R. Joseph as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary FREMONT, Calif., March 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Abgenix, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABGX), a biopharmaceutical company focused on development of antibody therapeutics, announced today the appointment of Donald R. Joseph as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. "We are very pleased to have Don on board. He brings extensive legal and commercial experience in the biotechnology and life sciences sectors," said Bill Ringo, president and chief executive officer of Abgenix. "His experience with pharmaceutical and biotech companies will provide Abgenix with legal expertise that is essential as we prepare to bring our lead product, panitumumab, to the market." Mr. Joseph's appointment follows the departure of Susan L. Thorner, who resigned earlier this year to pursue other opportunities. Before joining Abgenix, Mr. Joseph was the co-founder of Alekta Group, LLC, a specialty pharmaceutical consulting group and pharmaceutical development company. Prior to Alekta he was the Executive Vice President, Commercial Development of Amarin Corp., a Nasdaq-listed company based in London, and the Executive Vice President, Legal and Commercial Development for Amarin Pharmaceuticals, its U.S. subsidiary, for three years. He was responsible for U.S. in-licensing and product acquisition transactions, commercial transition for acquired products, U.S. legal affairs, human resources and administration. From 1998 until 2001, Mr. Joseph worked at Elan Pharmaceuticals, the pharmaceutical division of Elan Corporation, most recently as Senior Vice President for commercial and legal affairs. Following Elan's acquisition of Athena Neurosciences, Inc. in 1996, he served as Vice President and General Counsel for Athena. From 1978 until 1993, Mr. Joseph practiced law with law firms in Oklahoma, San Francisco and San Diego. Before joining Athena Neurosciences in 1994, he was a partner in the San Francisco office of Baker & McKenzie, a prominent international law firm. Mr. Joseph received his law degree from the University of Texas Law School and his undergraduate degree from the University of Oklahoma. About Abgenix Abgenix is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and manufacturing of human therapeutic antibodies. The company's antibody development platform includes a leading technology and state-of-the- art manufacturing capabilities that enable the rapid generation, selection and production of high affinity, fully human antibody product candidates to a variety of disease targets. Abgenix leverages its leadership position in human antibody technology to build a diversified product portfolio through its own development efforts and the establishment of collaborations with multiple pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. For more information on Abgenix, visit the company's website at http://www.abgenix.com/. Statements made in this press release about Abgenix's technologies, product development activities, collaborative arrangements and process science and manufacturing capabilities, other than statements of historical fact, and about its projected financial results and the achievement of milestone or similar payments, are forward-looking statements and are subject to a number of uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made, including risks associated with the success of clinical trials, the progress of research and product development programs, product manufacturing, regulatory approval processes, competitive products and services, future capital requirements and the extent and breadth of Abgenix's patent portfolio. Please see Abgenix's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for information about risks that may affect Abgenix. DATASOURCE: Abgenix, Inc. CONTACT: Ami Knoefler, Senior Director, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations of Abgenix, Inc., +1-510-284-6350 or +1-510-284-6605 Web site: http://www.abgenix.com/

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