SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct. 2, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:FPRX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing novel protein therapeutics for cancer and inflammatory diseases, today announced the appointment of Bill Ringo, a strategic advisor at Sofinnova Ventures, to the company's Board of Directors. The addition of Mr. Ringo increases the number of directors from eight to nine.
"We are delighted to add Bill to the Five Prime board," said Lewis T. "Rusty" Williams, M.D., Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Five Prime. "Bill's extensive drug development experience and knowledge, especially in the field of oncology, will be invaluable as we continue to expand our research and grow our product pipeline."
"I am pleased to join the Five Prime board," said Mr. Ringo. "It is an exciting time for the company and Five Prime's protein discovery platform plays a pivotal role in changing the treatment landscape for inflammatory and cancer diseases. I look forward to working with the management team to realize the full potential of this dynamic platform and company."
Since June 2010, Mr. Ringo has served as a senior advisor to Barclays Healthcare Group and as a strategic advisor to Sofinnova Ventures. From April 2008 until his retirement in April 2010, Mr. Ringo was Senior Vice President of Business Development, Strategy and Innovation at Pfizer Inc., a public pharmaceutical company, and was responsible for guiding Pfizer's overall strategic planning and business development activities. Prior to joining Pfizer, Mr. Ringo served as an executive in residence at Warburg Pincus and Sofinnova Ventures. From August 2004 to April 2006, Mr. Ringo served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Abgenix, Inc., a biotechnology company acquired by Amgen, Inc. Prior to Abgenix, Mr. Ringo served for 28 years at Eli Lilly and Company in numerous executive roles, including Product Group President for Oncology and Critical Care, President of Internal Medicine Products, President of the Infectious Diseases Business Unit and Vice President of Sales and Marketing for U.S. Pharmaceuticals. Following Mr. Ringo's retirement from Eli Lilly in 2001, from March 2001 to December 2007, Mr. Ringo served on various boards of directors, including InterMune, Inc. where he served as the non-executive chairman of the board of directors after serving as interim Chief Executive Officer from June 2003 to September 2003. Mr. Ringo currently serves on the boards of directors of Assembly Biosciences, Inc., Immune Design Corp., Mirati Therapeutics, Inc., and Sangamo BioSciences, Inc., each of which is a public biotechnology company. Mr. Ringo also served on the board of directors of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from February 2011 until its acquisition by Amgen in October 2013. Mr. Ringo received a B.S. in business administration and an M.B.A. from the University of Dayton.
About Five Prime
Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. discovers and develops innovative therapeutics to improve the lives of patients with serious diseases. Five Prime's comprehensive discovery platform, which encompasses virtually every medically relevant extracellular protein, positions it to explore pathways in cancer, inflammation and their intersection in cancer immunotherapy, an area of oncology with significant therapeutic potential and a growing focus of the company's R&D activities. Five Prime has entered into strategic collaborations with leading global pharmaceutical companies and has promising product candidates in clinical and late preclinical development. For more information, please visit www.fiveprime.com.