PALO ALTO, Calif., July 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Horizon Therapeutics, Inc., a
privately held biopharmaceutical company, today announced that Timothy P.
Walbert has been named president, chief executive officer and member of the
board of directors of Horizon Therapeutics.
'Tim has a long, proven track record of successfully commercializing
multi-billion dollar drugs in the pain and arthritis areas,' said George
Tidmarsh, M.D., Ph.D., founder, scientific consultant and board member of
Horizon. 'Tim has the perfect background to lead our company as we move
toward the unblinding of the Phase 3 clinical data for our lead product
candidate HZT-501, a proprietary formulation of ibuprofen combined with
famotidine in a single pill. We are thrilled to have someone of his caliber
joining Horizon.'
Mr. Walbert has nearly two decades of executive, general management,
marketing and sales experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.
Mr. Walbert is currently president and chief executive officer of IDM Pharma
(Nasdaq: IDMI), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of
innovative products that activate the immune system to treat cancer. Prior to
IDM Pharma, Mr. Walbert served as executive vice president, commercial
operations at NeoPharm, Inc.
Mr. Walbert previously was at Abbott where he served as divisional vice
president and general manager of Abbott Immunology and divisional vice
president of global cardiovascular marketing. Under his leadership, he was
responsible for the creation of Abbott Immunology through the approval, launch
and commercialization of HUMIRA(R) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis
in the United States, Europe and other countries.
HUMIRA became the most successful launch in Abbott's history, achieving sales
of more than $1.4 billion by 2005 and is expected to exceed $3 billion in
2008.
Mr. Walbert also served as director, Celebrex(R) North America and
arthritis team leader, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Canada at
Searle/Pharmacia. He coordinated Celebrex activities in Canada, Australia,
and Latin America where aggregate sales grew to nearly $400 million in 2000,
making it one of the most successful pharmaceutical products launched in many
of those countries. Mr. Walbert also held a number of other key marketing and
sales positions with Searle/Pharmacia, which included the U.S. launch of
Arthrotec(R), a combination arthritis/pain product which generated more than
$200 million in first year sales in 1998 and Daypro(R), an arthritis/pain
product which generated more than $300 million in peak U.S. sales.
'I am excited by the opportunity to lead Horizon and help bring a new
therapeutic option to market that may offer patients effective pain relief
with GI-protection,' said Mr. Walbert. 'Approximately 25 percent of regular
NSAID users may develop stomach ulcers and there continues to be a significant
unmet treatment need for effective pain relief while lowering a patient's risk
of developing these ulcers. Horizon is well positioned to address this need
and become a market leader.'
About Horizon Therapeutics
Horizon Therapeutics, Inc. is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company
focused on the development and commercialization of therapies for the
treatment of mild-to-moderate pain and arthritis. Horizon's clinical
portfolio includes innovative combination therapies in early- and late-stage
development that are designed to improve safety, efficacy, and patient
compliance. For more information about the company and its products, please
visit http://www.horizontherapeutics.com.
SOURCE Horizon Therapeutics, Inc.
