DOYLESTOWN, Pa., March 14, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Discovery Laboratories, Inc. (Nasdaq:DSCO), today announced the appointment of W. Thomas Amick as Chairman of its Board of Directors. Mr. Amick brings extensive pharmaceutical, strategic and operational leadership to Discovery Labs as the company prepares for the potential FDA approval of Surfaxin(r) and advances its pipeline of Surfactant Replacement Therapies (SRT) for the treatment of various respiratory diseases. Mr. Amick replaces Herbert H. McDade, Jr. who served as Discovery Labs' Chairman for the past eight years. Mr. McDade will remain a director.
Mr. Amick enjoyed a highly successful 30-year career with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) where, as Vice President of the Ortho Biotech Oncology Franchise, he launched Procrit(r) (epoetin alfa) and built J&J's oncology franchise into one of the most successful businesses in J&J history with annual revenues exceeding $2.5 billion. Mr. Amick also held positions as President of Ortho Biotech Europe, President of Janssen-Ortho Canada, and Vice President for Business Development of Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation (the venture capital division of J&J).
Mr. Amick commented, "As Chairman of Discovery Labs, I look forward to leveraging my experience in developing medical franchises built on new technology platforms to realize Discovery Labs' vision of becoming a leader in pulmonary critical care medicine. Our strategy is to develop a portfolio of Surfactant Replacement Therapies to address various unmet respiratory diseases affecting neonatal, pediatric and adult patients. Surfaxin, upon approval, will represent an opportunity to improve the standard of care for premature infants and a base on which to build an important neonatal respiratory franchise. Aerosurf holds the promise of significantly expanding the use of surfactants in neonatal and pediatric medicine.
Personally and on behalf of the company, I thank Herbert McDade for his service as Discovery Labs' Chairman during which the company significantly advanced its novel SRT pipeline and conducted some of the most important clinical trials in neonatology."
In addition to his position as Chairman for Discovery Labs, Mr. Amick also serves as Chairman and CEO of Aldagen, Inc., a venture capital-backed company developing adult stem cells. Mr. Amick is also a member of the Boards of Directors of certain venture capital-backed biotechnology companies and an advisor to two leading life science venture capital firms, Quaker BioVentures, Inc., (Philadelphia, PA) and Intersouth Partners (Durham, NC).
Mr. Amick earned his B.S. in Business Administration at Elon University and completed executive curriculum at the University of Virginia, the Kellogg School at Northwestern University, and the Harvard Business School.
About Discovery Labs
Discovery Laboratories, Inc. is a biotechnology company developing Surfactant Replacement Therapies (SRT) for respiratory diseases. Surfactants are produced naturally in the lungs and are essential for breathing. Discovery's technology produces a precision-engineered surfactant that is designed to closely mimic the essential properties of natural human lung surfactant. Discovery believes that its proprietary SRT pipeline has the potential to advance respiratory medicine and address a variety of respiratory diseases affecting premature infants, children and adults.
Discovery's lead product candidate, Surfaxin(r), is the subject of an Approvable Letter from the FDA for the prevention of Respiratory Distress Syndrome in premature infants. Surfaxin is also being developed for the prevention and treatment of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in premature infants. Aerosurf(tm), Discovery's aerosolized SRT, is being developed initially to treat premature infants suffering from respiratory disorders and is intended to obviate the need for intubation and conventional mechanical ventilation. Discovery's SRT pipeline also includes programs potentially addressing Acute Lung Injury, Acute Respiratory Failure, Cystic Fibrosis, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, and other respiratory conditions. For more information, please visit our corporate website at www.Discoverylabs.com.
To the extent that statements in this press release are not strictly historical, including statements as to business strategy, outlook, objectives, future milestones, plans, intentions, goals, future financial conditions, future collaboration agreements, the success of Discovery's product development or otherwise as to future events, all such statements are forward-looking, and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. Among the factors which could affect Discovery's actual results and could cause results to differ from those contained in these forward-looking statements are the risk that financial conditions may change, risks relating to the progress of Discovery's research and development, the risk that Discovery will not be able to raise additional capital or enter into additional collaboration agreements (including strategic alliances for Surfactant Replacement Therapies), the risk that approval by the FDA or other health regulatory authorities of any applications filed by Discovery may be withheld, delayed and/or limited by indications or other label limitations, the risk that any such regulatory authority will not approve the marketing and sale of a drug product even after acceptance of an application filed by Discovery for any such drug product, risk in the FDA or other regulatory agency review process generally, risks related to the ability of Discovery and its collaborators to develop, manufacture and successfully commercialize products that combine Discovery's drug products with innovative aerosolization technologies, risks relating to the significant, time-consuming and costly research, development, pre-clinical studies, clinical testing and regulatory approval for any products that Discovery may develop independently or in connection with Discovery's collaboration arrangements, and risks relating to the development of competing therapies and/or technologies by other companies. Companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials, even after obtaining promising earlier trial results. Data obtained from tests are susceptible to varying interpretations, which may delay, limit or prevent regulatory approval. Those associated risks and others are further described in Discovery's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including the most recent reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K, and any amendments thereto.