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ARIAD Expands Management Team with Executive Appointments in Regulatory Affairs, Manufacturing and Information Technology

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^{Published in Health and Fitness on Tuesday, January 6th 2009 at 4:55 GMT, Last Modified on 2009-01-06 04:56:25 by Market Wire}  

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA) today announced the appointment of three senior executives to ARIAD's management team in newly created positions: Daniel M. Bollag, Ph.D. as senior vice president, regulatory affairs and quality, Andreas Woppmann, Ph.D. as vice president, manufacturing operations and Kelly M. Schmitz as vice president, information technology and operations.

"We are very pleased to welcome these talented professionals to our senior management team," said Harvey J. Berger, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer. "Their broad industry expertise augments our current leadership team and demonstrates our commitment to building a fully integrated oncology business. We look forward to benefiting from their knowledge and experience as we advance our corporate goals for 2009 and beyond. With these key appointments, we have rounded out our senior management team as part of our enterprise transformation."

Daniel M. Bollag, Ph.D.

Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Quality

Dr. Bollag will lead regulatory strategy and operations, including the anticipated filing of a new drug application for oral deforolimus in patients with metastatic sarcomas. He will also be responsible for directing the Company's global quality systems. Dr. Bollag has approximately fifteen years experience in the pharmaceutical industry, of which the last six have been focused on regulatory affairs. Prior to joining ARIAD, he served as vice president, regulatory affairs for Genzyme Corporation, and associate vice president, global regulatory affairs at Sanofi-Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. At Genzyme, he was the regulatory executive responsible for plerixafor (Mozobil™), a recently approved hematopoietic stem-cell mobilizing agent for use in certain types of cancer patients. Prior to that, Dr. Bollag conducted research elucidating the anti-tumor properties of epothilones at Merck & Co., Inc. and contributed to the development of ixabepilone (Ixempra™) as a program management executive at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Inc. Dr. Bollag received a Ph.D. degree in biochemistry from Cornell University and completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at Princeton University.

Andreas Woppmann, Ph.D.

Vice President, Manufacturing Operations

Dr. Woppmann will lead global manufacturing, supply chain, logistics and process development for pre-approval and commercial products, including ongoing preparation for potential launch of oral deforolimus. Dr. Woppmann brings extensive operational experience to ARIAD, gained over more than twenty years in the global biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, including the successful development, licensure and commercialization of more than ten pharmaceutical products. Most recently, Dr. Woppmann was vice president, pharmaceutical development, operations and quality at Indevus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he led the transformation from development to the commercial stage. Previously, he held management positions at Biogen Idec, Inc., Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc. (Shire plc) and Antigenics, Inc. Dr. Woppmann received his doctorate from the Free University of Berlin for research conducted at the Max-Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin, Germany.

Kelly M. Schmitz

Vice President, Information Technology and Operations

Mr. Schmitz will oversee ARIAD's expanding information technology and operations infrastructure. Mr. Schmitz brings more than twenty years of experience in the field of information technology and is actively involved with several industry organizations. Prior to joining ARIAD, Mr. Schmitz served as vice president, solutions practice for Maxiom Consulting Group, and information technology director, business applications and production for Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He has a B.S. degree in Recombinant Gene Technology from the State University of New York.

About ARIAD

ARIAD's vision is to transform the lives of cancer patients with breakthrough medicines. The Company's mission is to discover, develop and commercialize small-molecule drugs to treat cancer in patients with the greatest and most urgent unmet medical need – aggressive cancers where current therapies are inadequate. ARIAD's lead product candidate, deforolimus, is an investigational mTOR inhibitor in Phase 3 clinical development in patients with advanced sarcomas and is being developed in collaboration with Merck & Co., Inc. ARIAD's second product candidate, AP24534, is an investigational multi-targeted kinase inhibitor in Phase 1 clinical development in patients with hematological cancers. ARIAD has an exclusive license to pioneering technology and patents related to certain NF-κB cell-signaling activity, which may be useful in treating certain diseases. For additional information about the Company, please visit [ http://www.ariad.com ].

This press release contains "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are based on management's expectations and are subject to certain factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, outcome of events, timing and performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, difficulties or delays in filing new drug applications or obtaining regulatory approvals to market products resulting from our development efforts, our reliance on our strategic partners and licensees and other key parties for the successful development, manufacturing and commercialization of products, and other factors detailed in the Company's public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The information contained in this press release is believed to be current as of the date of original issue. The Company does not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this document to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in the Company's expectations, except as required by law.

Mozobil™ is a trademark of Genzyme Corporation, and Ixempra™ is a trademark of Bristol-Myers Squibb, Inc.