Arena Pharmaceuticals Announces Changes to Board of Directors
February 16 2021 - 8:30AM
Business Wire
- Industry veteran Garry Neil, MD, named Board
Chair
- Nawal Ouzren, CEO of Sensorion named to
Board
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARNA) today announced
changes to the Company’s Board of Directors. Garry Neil, MD, has
been appointed Chair of the Board. Additionally, Nawal Ouzren has
been appointed as a new Board member.
“These changes in our Board leadership will help position Arena
for the growth we anticipate and mark an important inflection point
in our progress,” said Amit D. Munshi, President and CEO of Arena.
“Garry Neil has served on the Board for the past four years,
providing exceptional leadership for our scientific direction. As a
physician with extensive industry experience, his insight into
successfully translating scientific discoveries into marketable
drugs will shape our approach going forward.”
Dr. Neil has served on our Board of Directors since February
2017. He serves as the Chief Scientific Officer of Cerecor, Inc., a
publicly held biotechnology company focused on translating genetic
discoveries into novel therapies to improve the lives of children
and adults with life altering diseases, a position he has held
since Cerecor’s February 2020 merger with Aevi Genomic Medicine,
Inc., a biotechnology company with the same focus, where Dr. Neil
had served as Chief Scientific Officer since September 2013. Prior
to joining Aevi Genomic Medicine, Dr. Neil was a Partner at Apple
Tree Partners, a life science private equity firm, from September
2012 to September 2013, and held a number of senior positions in
the pharmaceutical industry, including most recently as Corporate
VP of Science & Technology at Johnson & Johnson from
November 2007 to August 2012. Prior to these roles, Dr. Neil served
as Group President at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research
and Development, VP of R&D at Merck KGaA/EMD Pharmaceuticals,
and VP of Clinical Research at AstraZeneca and Astra Merck. Dr.
Neil holds a BS from the University of Saskatchewan and an MD from
the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine. He completed
postdoctoral clinical training in internal medicine and
gastroenterology at the University of Toronto. Dr. Neil also
completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Research
Institute of Scripps Clinic. He served on the Board of GTx, Inc., a
publicly traded biopharmaceutical company focused on cancer and
other serious medical conditions, until its merger with Oncternal
Therapeutics in March 2019. Dr. Neil is the Founding Chairman of
TransCelerate Biopharma, Inc., a non-profit pharmaceuticals
industry R&D consortium, and a past member of the TransCelerate
Board. He also serves on the Board of the Reagan Udall Foundation
and previously served on the Board of Foundation for the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) and on the Science Management Review
Board of the NIH. Dr. Neil is also the past Chairman of the
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association (PhRMA)
Science and Regulatory Executive Committee and the PhRMA Foundation
Board.
“The appointment of Nawal Ouzren to the Board strengthens our
Board leadership capabilities, and I am delighted to have the
opportunity to work with her,” commented Dr. Neil, newly appointed
Chair of the Arena Board of Directors. "Nawal brings broad based
management experience including in operations and manufacturing,
with both large and small biopharmaceutical companies. We are
fortunate to have someone with her experience join the Board as we
move toward commercial launch."
Ms. Ouzren brings 20 years of leadership and expertise across a
range of areas, including clinical development, operations,
manufacturing, quality, and commercialization. She currently serves
as Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board at Sensorion SAS
(ALSEN.PA), a publicly traded biotechnology company based in
Montpellier, FR. Prior to joining Sensorion, she served as Group
Vice President, Rare Genetic Diseases at Shire International GmbH.
In that role she led a cross-functional organization including
clinical development, R&D, and global marketing. Before Shire,
Ms. Ouzren held various positions at Baxalta from 2014 to June 2016
when Baxalta was acquired by Shire. During her career, Ms. Ouzren
also held roles of increasing responsibility across multiple
functions at Baxter BioScience and General Electric. In addition to
her Board role at Sensorion, Ms. Ouzren serves on the Board of
Inventiva (Euronext Paris and Nasdaq: IVA), a clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company. Ms. Ouzren holds a Master of Science
Degree in Chemical Engineering from the Université de Technologie
de Compiègne, France.
“Since 2016, we have continued to evolve the Board of Directors
to provide effective guidance and oversight as the company has
continued to grow. These new Board appointments will help steer
Arena Pharmaceuticals toward our next stage of growth. I look
forward to working with Garry and Nawal,” commented Mr. Munshi.
About Arena Pharmaceuticals
ARENA Pharmaceuticals is a team with a singular purpose –
deliver our important medicines to patients.
In a rapidly changing global market, we work with a sense of
urgency every day to understand the needs of all our stakeholders,
identify bold, sometimes disruptive, ideas to get our medicines to
patients, and relentlessly execute until it’s done.
ARENA - Care More. Act Differently.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking
statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Such
forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements
about Dr. Neil’s and Ms. Ouzren’s expected contributions, Arena’s
purpose, work, ideas, and execution. For such statements, Arena
claims the protection of the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. Actual events or results may differ materially from
Arena’s expectations. Factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from the forward-looking statements include those
disclosed in Arena’s filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. These forward-looking statements represent Arena’s
judgment as of the time of this release. Arena disclaims any intent
or obligation to update these forward-looking statements, other
than as may be required under applicable law.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210216005485/en/
Corporate Contact: Patrick Malloy Arena Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate
Communications pmalloy@arenapharm.com 847.987.4878
Arena Media Contact: IR@arenapharm.com 858.453.7200
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