Eiger BioPharmaceuticals Appoints Paul Truex to Board of...( PALO ALTO Calif. Au...)

PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 17, 2009 /PRNewswire/ -- Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company developing antiviral therapies with a focus on the NS4B Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) protein, announced today the appointment of Paul Truex to its Board of Directors.

Truex is the founder, President and CEO of Anthera Pharmaceuticals - a private pharmaceutical company focused on the development of anti-inflammatory products for life threatening cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. Previously' he was Founder, President and CEO of Peninsula Pharmaceuticals where he negotiated both of Peninsula's anti-infective product agreements with Shionogi & Co.' Ltd. and Takeda Chemical Industries respectively. Peninsula was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2005 for $245 million. Previously, Mr. Truex held positions at Versicor (Vicuron), which was acquired by Pfizer for $1.9 billion, and at Eli Lilly. Mr. Truex obtained his M.B.A. in Marketing and Finance from Indiana University and a B.A. Degree in International Economics from the University of Waterloo.

"We are delighted to have Mr. Truex join Eiger's Board as an Independent Director," said David Cory, President and CEO of Eiger. "Paul will bring valuable experience to our corporate strategy and development as we advance both preclinical and clinical programs at Eiger."

"The combination of newly discovered HCV targets along with clinical and preclinical small molecule inhibitors already identified by Eiger make this a very exciting opportunity in the infectious disease space," said Paul Truex. "I'm looking forward to working with the Eiger board and management team to build a successful company."

Eiger BioPharmaceuticals recently announced the acquisition of exclusive license to novel HCV technology discovered in the labs of Stanford scientist and Eiger Founder Dr. Jeffrey Glenn, MD, PhD. This technology
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