GARDINER F.H. SMITH NAMED VICE PRESIDENT, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT OF MEMORY PHARMACEUTICALS
Montvale, NJ, January 22, 2002 - Memory Pharmaceuticals Corp., a privately held company that is developing drugs for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric diseases, announced today the appointment of Gardiner F.H. Smith to Vice President, Business Development. Mr. Smith brings to the company nearly 15 years of business development and strategic evaluation experience from Glaxo Wellcome and, most recently, Human Genome Sciences. Memory Pharmaceuticals is developing a diverse pipeline of memory-enhancing drugs using its proprietary technology platform, which is based on intellectual property discovered by Nobel Laureate, Eric Kandel, M.D., the scientific founder of the company.
"Gardiner brings an impressive track record of building successful strategic alliances, as well as in-depth knowledge of the biopharmaceutical industry, to Memory Pharmaceuticals," said Tony Scullion, Chief Executive Officer of Memory Pharmaceuticals. "He will be an important member of our management team, as we seek to conclude major alliances and enhance our portfolio of drug candidates focused on the treatment of neurological and psychiatric diseases. The Company's drug discovery and development focus is on a pipeline of drugs to treat diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Vascular Dementia, Schizophrenia and Major Depression."
Most recently, Mr. Smith was Executive Director, Business Development at Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (HGS), where he was responsible for developing strategic external relationships and completing successful acquisitions to complement HGS' therapeutic protein development efforts. Prior to joining HGS, he held several positions at Glaxo Wellcome, including Director of International Licensing and Patent Attorney. Mr. Smith received his Juris Doctor in Law from North Carolina Central University and his Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
About Memory Pharmaceuticals:
Memory Pharmaceuticals is a neuropharmaceutical company developing drugs for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric diseases. Based on intellectual property developed by Nobel Laureate, Eric Kandel, M.D., the company's proprietary COGNOSTICST technology platform consists of an array of state-of-the-art bioassays that evaluate the cellular, physiological and behavioral aspects of drug effects within relevant memory pathways. Memory Pharmaceuticals applies its COGNOSTICS technology to target validation, chemical hit and lead identification, lead optimization and nomination of clinical development candidates. Memory Pharmaceuticals has developed a diverse pipeline of drug discovery programs at various stages of research and development, based on in-house discovery efforts and in-licensing of promising drugs.