UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of The Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): July 15, 2013

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (617) 494-0400


Not Applicable
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

⃞ Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

⃞ Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

⃞ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

⃞ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

(d)    On July 15, 2013, upon the recommendation of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (the “Company”) approved an increase in the size of the Board from seven to eight members and elected Sarah J. Schlesinger, M.D., Senior Attending Physician and Associate Professor of Clinical Investigation at The Rockefeller University, to fill the vacancy created by the increase in the size of the Board.  Dr. Schlesinger was appointed to serve as a Class 3 director, until the 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and until her successor has been duly elected and qualified, or until her earlier death, resignation, retirement or removal.  

Dr. Schlesinger is a prominent clinical investigator and immunologist at The Rockefeller University (“Rockefeller”) in New York City who has spent more than 20 years working in the field of cellular immunity, including as clinical director of the laboratory led by the late Ralph M. Steinman, M.D., 2011 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine.  She is currently Senior Attending Physician and Associate Professor of Clinical Investigation at the Laboratory of Cellular Physiology and Immunology at Rockefeller. Prior to joining Rockefeller in 2003, Dr. Schlesinger was a scientist at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative in New York City from 2002 to 2003. From 1996 to 2002, Dr. Schlesinger was a Research Physician/Pathologist at the Division of Retrovirology at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, having previously served, from 1994 to 2002, as Staff Pathologist at the Armed Force Institute of Pathology in Washington, DC. Dr. Schlesinger trained in Surgery at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and began her career in pathology at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and hospitals in New York including Buffalo General, Hospital New York and the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital.

Dr. Schlesinger leads clinical trials and also chairs the research education and training committee of the Center for Clinical and Translational Science at The Rockefeller University Hospital.  She is co-director of Rockefeller’s Clinical Scholars program, the Certificate in Clinical and Translational Sciences program and is the vice-chair of the hospital’s Institutional Review Board. Widely published in her field, Dr. Schlesinger has been recognized with numerous awards for her research and teaching. She also belongs to a number of prominent medical societies including the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the College of American Pathologists.

Dr. Schlesinger received her bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College in Wellesley, MA, and her M.D. from Rush Medical College in Chicago.

There are no arrangements or understandings between the Company and any other person pursuant to which Dr. Schlesinger was elected as a director, nor are there any transactions between Dr. Schlesinger and the Company in which she has a direct or indirect material interest that the Company is required to report pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission.  

A copy of the press release announcing the election of Dr. Schlesinger to the Board is being filed herewith as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated by reference herein.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

Exhibit Index

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