EXTON, Pa., May 11, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- ViroPharma Incorporated (Nasdaq:VPHM) announced today that Colin Broom, M.D. has joined the company as vice president and chief scientific officer. Dr. Broom will be responsible for the leadership of all product development activities and will play a key role in the company's strategic business development efforts. Most recently, he served as vice president of clinical development and medical affairs, Amgen Europe. Prior to this, he was senior vice president of global clinical development for Hoechst Marion Roussel (now Aventis) and vice president, clinical development, North America at SmithKline Beecham (now GlaxoSmithKline).
"ViroPharma is entering into an exciting phase, rich with opportunity from clinical development activities and business development efforts. Colin complements perfectly our strategic focus, and adds outstanding talent to our experienced management team," commented Michel de Rosen, ViroPharma's chief executive officer. "Colin's many years of leadership experience in U.S. and international product development for large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies positions us well to focus on our goal of becoming a commercial organization, through development of our core internal products, and through strategic analyses and acquisition of new growth opportunities."
De Rosen added, "Colin brings with him an exceptional track record in achieving regulatory approvals and in the successful commercialization of new products, and we know his impact on ViroPharma will be substantial. I am delighted to welcome him to the company, and look forward to working closely with him."
As vice president of clinical development and medical affairs at Amgen, Dr. Broom led Amgen's European drug development activities, and built a medical affairs capability to take full advantage of the outstanding regulatory successes attained during his tenure, which included approvals for Aranesp(r) (darbepoetin alfa) nephrology and oncology indications, Neulasta(r) (pegfilgrastim) for chemotherapy induced neutropenia, and Kineret(r) (anakinra) for rheumatoid arthritis. Prior to joining Amgen, Dr. Broom served as senior vice president of global clinical development for Hoechst Marion Roussel (HMR), where he had global responsibility for clinical development strategy across all therapeutic areas. Prior to HMR, he held positions of increasing seniority at Glaxo and SmithKline Beecham (SB) in clinical pharmacology before moving to the U.S. with SB to lead the global oncology therapeutic area and subsequently the CNS and GI areas. At HMR and SB, he led or made major contributions to the development programs, regulatory approvals and commercialization of products across multiple therapeutic areas including Lantus(r) (insulin glargine) for diabetes, Hycamtin(r) (topotecan) in oncology, Paxil(r) (paroxetine) and Requip(r) (ropinirole) for CNS disorders, Kytril(r) (granisetron) for nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy, and Famvir(r) (famciclovir) anti-viral therapy.
"I am delighted to join ViroPharma at such an important and exciting time," commented Dr. Broom. "The ongoing development programs have the potential to deliver vital new treatments to patients whose therapeutic options are currently limited. I also look forward to executing on our business development strategy to acquire and commercialize additional promising new therapies."
Dr. Broom holds a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacology from University College London, a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree from St. George's Hospital Medical School, London and is a Member of the Royal College of Physicians and a Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine of the UK Colleges of Physicians. Among other affiliations, Dr. Broom is a member of the American Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, the British Pharmacological Society and the British Society of Gastroenterology.
ViroPharma Incorporated is committed to the development and commercialization of products that address serious diseases treated by physician specialists and in hospital settings. ViroPharma is currently focused on drug development activities in viral diseases including cytomegalovirus (CMV) and hepatitis C (HCV).
This press release may contain, in addition to historical information, certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Such statements reflect management's current views and are based on certain assumptions. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from ViroPharma's assumptions and expectations. These factors are set forth in the cautionary statements included in ViroPharma's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and registration statements on Forms S-3 and S-4 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. ViroPharma is developing products for potential future marketing. There can be no assurance that such development efforts will succeed, that such products will receive required regulatory clearance or that, even if such regulatory clearance were received, such products would ultimately achieve commercial success. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release may become outdated over time. ViroPharma does not assume any responsibility for updating any forward-looking statements.