VLST Corporation Announces Board and Executive Management Ap...( - Dr. David L. Urdal Dendreon Corpor...)

- Dr. David L. Urdal, Dendreon Corporation, Joins Board of Directors, Ron

Myers Appointed Vice President Legal Affairs -

SEATTLE, Feb. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- VLST Corporation, a Seattle-based biotechnology company focused on the development of therapeutics for autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, today announced the appointments of Dr. David L. Urdal, chief scientific officer of Dendreon Corporation (Nasdaq: DNDN), to the Company's board of directors and Mr. Ron Myers, former associate general counsel, intellectual property for Corixa Corp., as vice president, legal affairs and intellectual property.

"The addition of these talented and experienced professionals to VLST's board and management comes at a time of continued advancement and growth for our Company," said Martin Simonetti, president and chief executive officer of VLST. "Both Dave and Ron will be instrumental in helping to guide our efforts as we begin advancing our novel product candidates into the clinic."

"I am pleased to be joining VLST's board and to be working again with VLST cofounder, Dr. Craig Smith. We worked together at Immunex," said Urdal. "Craig's seminal work in the discovery of Enbrel is the basis for VLST's novel drug discovery platform."

Dr. Urdal has served as Dendreon's chief scientific officer since 1995. Prior to joining Dendreon, he held various positions with Immunex Corporation, including president of Immunex Manufacturing Corporation, vice president and director of development, and head of the departments of biochemistry and membrane biochemistry. At Immunex, Dr. Urdal participated in the discovery, development and commercialization of hematopoietic growth factors, cytokines and cytokine receptors, such as GM-CSF (
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