Healthcare Industry News:  Sandoz 

Biopharmaceuticals Personnel

 News Release - January 3, 2008

Intercept Pharmaceuticals Names Dr. Luciano Adorini Chief Scientific Officer

NEW YORK, Jan. 3 (HSMN NewsFeed)-- Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutics for the treatment of chronic fibrotic and metabolic diseases, today announced the appointment of Luciano Adorini, M.D., to the newly created position of Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Adorini brings over 20 years of experience in therapeutic research and development, recently serving as Chief Scientific Officer at BioXell (SWX: BXLN ), a biopharmaceutical company which he co-founded.

Mark Pruzanski, M.D., Founder, President and CEO of Intercept Pharmaceuticals, commented, "Luciano's proven R&D leadership will be invaluable as we continue to advance our pipeline of first-in-class compounds and expand our focus beyond chronic liver diseases to other indications involving progressive organ damage that results from some combination of chronic inflammation, fibrosis and metabolic dysfunction."

During Dr. Adorini's tenure at BioXell, he was responsible for advancing a broad pipeline of products in multiple disease indications. Prior to this, he served as Associate Director of Roche Milano Ricerche, where he contributed to the development of several drugs. Earlier in his career, Dr. Adorini was research director of a unit at the Preclinical Research Center, Sandoz Pharma, Ltd., in Basel.

Dr. Adorini has authored over 240 journal articles and other scientific publications, becoming a highly cited researcher in Immunology, with a focus on immunosuppressive and immunoregulatory mechanisms in the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. He is a board member of a number of peer-reviewed publications and is currently serving as president of the Italian Society of Immunology, Clinical Immunology and Allergology. Dr. Adorini received his M.D. degree from the Medical School of Padova University and conducted postdoctoral studies at the University of California at Los Angeles.

About Intercept Pharmaceuticals

New York City-based Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing small molecule drugs for the treatment of chronic liver and metabolic diseases. Since 2002, Intercept researchers have published extensively on the key role of the farnesoid X receptor (FXR) as a regulator of bile and cholesterol metabolism in the liver, with preclinical data from numerous studies providing strong rationale for the advancement of FXR agonists as hepatoprotective therapeutics in chronic liver disease. The Company intends to lead in the advancement of drug candidates acting on FXR and other bile acid receptors and is developing a pipeline of novel lead compounds for multiple indications. For more information on Intercept Pharmaceuticals, please visit the Company's website at www.interceptpharma.com .


Source: Intercept Pharmaceuticals

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