Peter R. Young, Ph.D. Joins Affymax As Vice President, Research
Affymax, Inc. (Nasdaq: AFFY) today announced that Peter R. Young, Ph.D. has joined the company in the newly created position of vice president, Research. Dr. Young joins the company with over 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical and biotechnology drug research in oncology, cardiovascular, metabolic, inflammatory and anti-viral disease therapeutic areas.
“We are pleased to have Peter assume this new role within the company and look forward to him leading our pipeline research and early development efforts,” said Robert Naso, Ph.D., executive vice president, Research and Development at Affymax. “As we enter Phase 3 clinical trials for our lead product, Hematide™, and transition two of our pipeline product candidates, Adeptide™ and Inotide™ into preclinical development, we are able to devote more attention to developing a pipeline of new drug candidates and evaluating other opportunities for growth. Given Peter’s extensive and diverse experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, we believe he will be a strong contributor to the senior management team and has the capabilities to help us identify additional product opportunities and shepherd our pipeline candidates from research to clinical trial stage.”
Prior to joining Affymax, Dr. Young served as vice president of Biology at two biotechnology companies, Genelabs Technologies Inc. and Celera Genomics. Earlier in his career, Dr. Young also held the position of vice president, Research at Sugen Inc (now Pfizer) and director, Metabolic Diseases and Cardiovascular Diseases at DuPont Pharmaceuticals/Bristol-Myers Squibb. He also held scientific and management positions with increasing responsibilities during his 16 year tenure at SmithKline Beecham (now GlaxoSmithKline), including managing the collaboration with Ligand Pharmaceuticals that led to the discovery of the oral thrombopoietin mimetic eltrombopag, currently in late stage clinical trials. Dr. Young holds a B.A. and M.A. in Chemistry from University of Oxford, United Kingdom and a Ph.D., in Molecular Biology from the University of Pennsylvania. He has 45 patents and patent applications and has authored over 120 scientific articles, reviews and book chapters.
About Affymax, Inc.
Affymax, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel drugs to improve the treatment of serious and often life-threatening conditions. Affymax’s lead product candidate, Hematide™, is currently in Phase 3 clinical trial stage for the treatment of anemia associated with chronic renal failure and in clinical trials for the treatment of anemia in cancer patients. For additional information, please visit www.affymax.com.
This release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the timing, design and results of the Company’s clinical trials and drug development program. The Company’s actual results may differ materially from those indicated in these forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties, including risks relating to the continued safety and efficacy of Hematide in clinical development, regulatory requirements and approvals, research and development efforts, industry and competitive environment, intellectual property rights and disputes and other matters that are described in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement in this press release.