Tobira Therapeutics Adds to its Board of Directors

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., June 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Tobira Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing cenicriviroc (CVC) in liver disease and HIV, announced today the appointment of four directors to its Board: Jeffrey H. Cooper, Craig S. Gibbs, Ph.D., Gwen A. Melincoff and Graeme J. Moyle, M.B.B.S., M.D.

"I am very pleased to add to our Board of Directors a group of diverse and talented individuals who bring a wealth of experience and unique skill set and will be instrumental in guiding Tobira as we prepare to advance the clinical development of our first in class dual CCR2/CCR5 inhibitor CVC in NASH and for the pursuit of a partnership or non-dilutive financing in HIV," said Laurent Fischer, M.D., chairman and CEO for Tobira Therapeutics.  "Each person brings a deep understanding and network in industry and clinical development and represents the various constituencies that we serve as we develop novel drugs that target unmet medical need to market."

Jeffrey H. Cooper is a senior finance executive and dynamic business leader with over 27 years of experience in the life sciences industry and business having served in development stage (private and public), mid-cap and multi-national large-cap companies. Cooper served as chief financial officer of KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he led the company through its initial public offering and subsequent financings, raising $120 million. Previously, Cooper served as senior vice president and chief financial officer at BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Inc. where he successfully raised over $650 million consisting of both public equity financings and convertible debt. During his tenure at BioMarin, the company grew four-fold to over 1000 employees, increased revenue from $8 million to nearly $450 million, tripled R&D investments to $250 million and increased market cap from $400 million to $4 billion. Prior to BioMarin Pharmaceuticals, he served as the vice president, finance of Matrix Pharmaceuticals, corporate controller at Foundation Health Systems and a number of increasingly responsible roles in finance and operations at Syntex Corporation where he spent 12 years. Mr. Cooper obtained his undergraduate degree in economics at UCLA and his M.B.A. at Santa Clara University.

Craig S. Gibbs has served as an independent consultant since May 2013. Previously, Dr. Gibbs served most recently as vice president of commercial strategy/planning and operations at Gilead Sciences, Inc., and previously as senior director, corporate development. He also served as senior director of biology research and in other research and development positions at Gilead. Dr. Gibbs served as visiting post-doctoral scientist at Genentech, Inc. Dr. Gibbs received a B.Sc. in biochemistry from Massey University, a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Glasgow and an M.B.A. from Golden Gate University.

Gwen A. Melincoff is currently managing director at Gemini Advisors LLC and has over 25 years of leadership experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Ms. Melincoff previously served as senior vice president of business development at Shire Plc. Additionally, she led the strategic investment group, Shire's $50 million corporate venture fund. During her tenure, she has been involved in numerous licenses, product divestments, co-promotion and collaboration agreements, and mergers and acquisitions. She was responsible for the collaboration with New River Pharmaceuticals that led to the $2.6 billion acquisition of the company within two years of the first transaction. Prior to joining Shire, Ms. Melincoff was vice president of business development at Adolor Corporation where she was involved in raising over $300M, which included helping the company launch a successful IPO. Ms. Melincoff worked for Eastman Kodak for over ten years, including Eastman Pharmaceuticals, which acquired Sterling Drug, and NanoSystems, a spin-out from Kodak that specialized in nanotechnology drug delivery. Ms. Melincoff has a B.S in biology from The George Washington University and a M.S. in management and health care administration from Pennsylvania State University.

Graeme J. Moyle is director of HIV research strategy at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, UK. Dr. Moyle began working in HIV and AIDS in 1988 and has considerable experience in HIV drug development, pharmacokinetics, clinical trial design and management through his work both in academia and at Roche. Dr. Moyle has been a member of HIV scientific advisory boards for a number of pharmaceutical companies including Ardea Biosciences, Inc. before its sale to AstraZeneca Plc in 2012. He is the author of 200 peer-reviewed publications on HIV and has served as member and author of the British HIV Association treatment guidelines writing committee and is a medical advisor for the UK National AIDS Manual. In addition, he is a past editor of The Journal of Viral Entry and HIV section of Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases and on the editorial boards of Drug Safety, AIDS Reviews, HIVandhepatitis.com and Medscape. Dr. Moyle received his medical degree (M.B.B.S.) and doctorate (M.D.) from the University of Adelaide in Adelaide, South Australia.

About Tobira Therapeutics

Tobira is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapies to treat liver disease, HIV, fibrosis and inflammation. The company's lead product, cenicriviroc (CVC), is a first in class immumodulator and dual inhibitor of CCR2 and CCR5 being evaluated for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and HIV. CVC's safety and tolerability profile has been evaluated in approximately 550 subjects who have been dosed in Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials, including 115 HIV-1 infected subjects on treatment for up to 48 weeks. Initiation of a Phase 2 of CVC in patients with NASH is planned for the second half of 2014. Tobira also plans to advance CVC in a fixed-dose combination for HIV type 1 infection through Phase 3 development and commercialization in collaboration with a strategic partner or with non-dilutive financing. Learn more at www.tobiratherapeutics.com.

SOURCE Tobira Therapeutics