FREMONT, Calif., April 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PDL BioPharma, Inc.
(Nasdaq: PDLI) today announced that L. Patrick Gage, Ph.D. has been elected
as the company's chairman of the board, following the resignation of Dr.
Max Link who had chaired the board since 2004. Dr. Gage has served on the
board of directors since 2003 and brings more than three decades of
research, development, manufacturing and general management experience in
the biopharmaceutical industry. The election of Dr. Gage follows a mutual
decision by Dr. Max Link and the PDL board of directors for Dr. Link to
step down both as chairman and a director to avoid a conflict of interest
given PDL's litigation with Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company on
which Dr. Link also serves as chairman of the board.
"Dr. Link has served on PDL's board for over a decade, and he is held
in the highest regard by each of our board members, and by me personally.
He has made many significant contributions to the company throughout his
tenure with us, and his leadership has been outstanding," said Mark McDade,
chief executive officer of PDL. "We are confident that Dr. Gage will
contribute strategic vision and leadership to PDL's board of directors as
we continue to build stockholder value by leveraging our antibody platform
to create a commercially-focused therapeutics company with a sustainable
pipeline."
Dr. Gage has served as a venture partner with Flagship Ventures since
2003. Prior to that, he held various positions at Wyeth, most recently as
senior vice president, Science and Technology and president, Wyeth
Research. He previously served as president of Genetics Institute, prior to
which he held various positions in research management over 18 years with
Roche. Dr. Gage is also chairman of the board of directors of Neose
Technologies, Inc.
PDL recently filed a lawsuit against Alexion seeking monetary damages
for infringement of certain PDL patents. The PDL board of directors and Dr.
Link considered the conflict of interest arising out of the Alexion
litigation and Dr. Link's position on both boards. Both the independent
members of PDL's board and Dr. Link have determined that it is appropriate
for Dr. Link to resign from PDL's board of directors.
About PDL BioPharma
PDL BioPharma, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on
discovering, developing and commercializing innovative therapies for severe
or life- threatening illnesses. Commercially focused in the acute-care
hospital setting, PDL markets and sells its portfolio of products in the
United States and Canada. A pioneer of antibody humanization technology,
PDL promotes this technology through licensing agreements and clinical
development of its own diverse pipeline of investigational compounds. PDL's
research platform centers on the discovery and development of antibodies to
treat cancer and autoimmune diseases. For more information, please visit
http://www.pdl.com.
NOTE: PDL BioPharma and the PDL BioPharma logo are considered
trademarks of PDL BioPharma, Inc.
SOURCE PDL BioPharma, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.pdl.com/
CONTACT:
Ami Knoefler, Corporate and Investor
Relations, +1-510-284-8851, or ami.knoefler@pdl.com, or Kathleen
Rinehart, Corporate Communications, +1-510-574-1480, or
kathleen.rinehart@pdl.com, both of PDL BioPharma, Inc.
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