CARLSBAD--- Isis Announces Appointment of Martin P. Bedigian, M.D. as Vice President and Chief Medical Officer
Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ISIS) announced today that Martin P. Bedigian, M.D. will join Isis on August 18, 2008 as Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. In this position, Dr. Bedigian will take the lead and be responsible for all medical aspects of Isis' clinical development programs.
"I look forward to joining the Isis team," said Dr. Bedigian. "The company is on the forefront in so many areas of clinical development and has the financial strength to continue to grow an already large pipeline. I am very eager and enthusiastic to become part of a team with the power of antisense drugs to treat a wide variety of diseases."
Dr. Bedigian comes to Isis from Novartis Pharmaceuticals where he was the Global Head of the Cardiovascular Assessment Group, a center of excellence responsible for the cardiovascular aspects of projects and programs across therapeutic areas and throughout research and development. During his tenure at Novartis, Dr. Bedigian was a lead member of Exploratory Development, Translational Medicine and the Integrated Safety Assessment Board.
"The executive team here at Isis is extraordinarily pleased that Dr. Bedigian is joining us. His appointment comes at a key time in our maturation when we have used antisense technology to create a very large and diverse portfolio of drugs. Martin's training and expertise across all of the therapeutic areas of our pipeline will nicely complement our expanding drug development pipeline," commented Dr. Stanley T. Crooke, Chairmain and Chief Exective Officer of Isis Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Bedigian received his Medical Degree from New York Medical College and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Emory University. He served fellowships in Hypertension and Non-invasive Cardiology at the VA Medical Center in Washington, D.C. as well as Nuclear Medicine at the University of Southern California and Emory University in the Department of Radiology and the Division of Cardiology. Dr. Bedigian is widely published in cardiology and clinical trials medicine, and is a member of several important American Heart Association Expert panels.
ABOUT ISIS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
Isis is exploiting its expertise in RNA to discover and develop novel drugs for its product pipeline and for its partners. The Company has successfully commercialized the world's first antisense drug and has 18 drugs in development. Isis' drug development programs are focused on treating cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Isis' partners are developing antisense drugs invented by Isis to treat a wide variety of diseases. Ibis Biosciences, Inc., Isis' majority-owned subsidiary, is developing and commercializing the Ibis T5000 Biosensor System, a revolutionary system to identify infectious organisms. Isis is a joint owner of Regulus Therapeutics LLC, a joint venture focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of microRNA therapeutics. As an innovator in RNA-based drug discovery and development, Isis is the owner or exclusive licensee of over 1,500 issued patents worldwide. Additional information about Isis is available at http://www.isispharm.com.