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Discovery
Labs Appoints W. Thomas Amick as Chief Executive Officer
Company
Leadership Solidified with Respected Biopharmaceutical Industry
Veteran
Warrington, PA, October 15,
2010 — Discovery Laboratories, Inc. (Nasdaq: DSCO), a biotechnology
company developing its novel synthetic surfactant and aerosol technologies for
respiratory diseases, has today announced that W. Thomas
Amick will become its full time Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Mr. Amick has
been serving as Discovery’s interim CEO since August of 2009 and has been
Chairman of the Board since March 2007. He will continue to serve as
Chairman of the Board.
Bruce A.
Peacock, a member of Discovery Labs’ Board of Directors, commented, “The
appointment of Tom as Discovery Labs’ CEO is a timely and important step in
securing the leadership and management structure of the Company as we work with
the FDA in seeking potential approval in 2011 of Surfaxin®, and
advance our respiratory pipeline. Tom’s extensive experience running
major biopharmaceutical businesses, ranging from development stage through
product commercialization, will prove invaluable as Discovery pursues its
strategy of building a significant respiratory care company based on its
promising surfactant and aerosolization technologies.”
W. Thomas
Amick, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Discovery Labs
commented, “Since becoming interim CEO, I’ve had the opportunity for an in-depth
assessment of the Company’s technology platforms and I fully appreciate the
significant potential of our synthetic surfactant to address the treatment of
respiratory disease. Our surfactant technology has already achieved an important
validation through the conduct of successful Phase 3 clinical trials utilizing
Surfaxin to address premature infants with respiratory distress syndrome and we
intend to leverage this in developing our next generation candidates, Surfaxin
LS™ and Aerosurf®. I
am excited to lead Discovery’s efforts to develop these important products and I
am dedicated to furthering the Company’s promise.”
Mr. Amick
is a respected industry veteran with more than 30 years of pharmaceutical and
biotechnology experience as a senior executive with Johnson & Johnson
(J&J). As Vice President of the Ortho Biotech Oncology Franchise, he was
instrumental in the launch of Procrit® (epoetin
alfa) and building the oncology franchise into a multi-billion dollar
operation. He then held the positions of President of Janssen-Ortho,
Inc., managing the entire J&J pharmaceutical and biotechnology portfolio for
Canada, and President of Ortho Biotech Europe. Mr. Amick also served
as an executive with J&J Development Corporation, the venture capital
division of J&J comprised of experts and leaders in health care responsible
for strategic investments in life science companies. Prior to
becoming Discovery Labs’ CEO, Mr. Amick was CEO of Aldagen Inc., a biotechnology
company developing regenerative cell therapies. Mr. Amick has served
on Discovery Labs’ Board since 2004, is a member of the board of directors of a
private biotechnology company and also serves as an advisor to two well-regarded
private equity firms focused on the biopharmaceutical industry.
About
Discovery Labs
Discovery
Laboratories, Inc. is a biotechnology company developing KL4 surfactant therapies for
respiratory diseases. Surfactants are produced naturally in the lungs and are
essential for breathing. Discovery Labs’ novel proprietary KL4 surfactant technology produces
a synthetic, peptide-containing surfactant that is structurally similar to
pulmonary surfactant and is being developed in liquid, aerosol or lyophilized
formulations. In addition, Discovery Labs’ proprietary capillary aerosolization
technology produces a dense aerosol, with a defined particle size that is
capable of potentially delivering aerosolized KL4 surfactant to the deep lung
without the complications currently associated with liquid surfactant
administration. Discovery Labs believes that its proprietary technology platform
makes it possible, for the first time, to develop a significant pipeline of
surfactant products to address a variety of respiratory diseases for which there
frequently are few or no approved therapies. For more information, please visit
our website at www.Discoverylabs.com.
Forward
Looking Statements
To
the extent that statements in this press release are not strictly historical,
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, including with respect to the
potential approval in the United States of Surfaxin for the prevention of RDS in
premature infants and the potential of Discovery Labs’ other KL4 surfactant
technologies to advance and meaningfully impact the standard of respiratory
critical care, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially from the statements
made. Examples of such risks and uncertainties are described in
Discovery Labs’ 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.
Contact
Information:
Media
relations:
Michelle
Linn, Linnden Communications
508-362-3087
Investor
relations:
John G.
Cooper, President and Chief Financial Officer
215-488-9490