Exhibit 99.1
OncoGenex Adds Biopharmaceutical Industry Veterans
to the Board of Directors
BOTHELL, WA and VANCOUVER, BC — March 24, 2010 — OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: OGXI),
announced today that the Company has appointed Dr. Jack Goldstein and Ms. H. Stewart Parker to its
board of directors. In addition, Dr. Martin Mattingly has agreed to stand for election at the
Company’s upcoming Annual General Meeting. Dr. Goldstein joins the board as chairman. The new board
members add substantial pharmaceutical industry experience having held or currently holding
positions as chief executive officer, president and/or director for several pharmaceutical
companies. Collectively, they bring to the OncoGenex board immense executive leadership experience
in late stage clinical development, commercialization and business development for pharmaceuticals
and biologics. With these new appointments, current board members Dwight Winstead and Michael
Martino will serve on the board until the Annual General Meeting on June 8 and are not seeking
re-election.
“We are assembling the essential components to build value from our pipeline programs, first by
having generated exceptional Phase 2 data from our OGX-011 program and developing a clear
regulatory path, followed by securing a strong global partner to advance OGX-011 into the final
stage of clinical development and commercialization, and now by adding the pharmaceutical expertise
and leadership of Jack, Stewart and Martin to the board of directors,” said Scott Cormack,
president and chief executive officer of OncoGenex. “I’d like to thank Dwight Winstead and Michael
Martino for their long and invaluable service as directors and in particular their leadership
during the transition following the reverse takeover of Sonus Pharmaceuticals. I wish them both
well in their next endeavors.”
“OncoGenex has developed a tremendous product pipeline, featuring the OGX-011 program entering
Phase 3 trials this year,” said Dr. Jack Goldstein, the new chairman of OncoGenex and former
president and chief operating officer of Chiron. “OncoGenex has advanced OGX-011 with speed,
efficiency and an intelligent development plan. As we head into a critical stage of corporate
growth we expect to continue the precision and efficiency, and to exercise clinical development
acumen to advance OGX-011, OGX-427 and leverage our product pipeline.”
Jack Goldstein, Ph.D., served as president and chief operating officer of Chiron Corporation until
its acquisition by Novartis in April 2006. Before Chiron, he spent two years as a general partner
at Windamere Venture Partners preceded by four years at Applied Imaging Corporation, first as
president and chief executive officer and later as chairman. Jack spent over a decade at Ortho
Diagnostic Systems, a Johnson & Johnson company, in various executive positions including four
years as president. Earlier, he was vice president of research and development at a division of
Baxter Healthcare Corporation. Jack earned a bachelor of art degree in biology from Rider
University, a Master of Science degree in immunology, and doctorate in microbiology from St. John’s
University. He sits on the board of directors of Illumina, Inc. and Orasure Technologies Inc.
H. Stewart Parker served as president, chief executive officer and director of Targeted Genetics
Corporation, a position she held since managing its formation and spinout from Immunex Corporation
in 1992 (Immunex was subsequently acquired by Amgen). Prior to Targeted Genetics, she served in
various capacities at Immunex for ten years, most recently as vice president, corporate
development. Stewart also served as president and a director of Receptech Corporation, a company
formed by Immunex in 1989 to accelerate the development of soluble cytokine receptor products. She
has served on the board of directors and the executive committee of BIO, the primary trade
organization for the biotechnology industry, and as a director of privately held and publicly held
companies. Stewart received her B.A. and M.B.A. from the University of Washington.
Martin A. Mattingly, Pharm.D., is the chief executive officer and member of the board of directors
of Trimeris, Inc. Martin most recently served as president and chief executive officer at Ambrx,
Inc. Prior to that, Martin served as executive vice president and chief operating officer at
CancerVax. He also previously provided senior leadership in various management positions at Agouron
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Pfizer, Inc. These assignments included general manager of the Agouron
HIV division; vice president, product development group at Pfizer; and vice president, global
marketing planning at Pfizer. Martin has also held various positions in oncology marketing and
sales management at Eli Lilly and Company including primary responsibility for the planning and
launch of Gemzar for the US market. Martin holds a Pharm.D. from the University of Kentucky.
About OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals
OncoGenex is a biopharmaceutical company committed to the development and commercialization of new
cancer therapies that address treatment resistance in cancer patients. OncoGenex has a deep
oncology pipeline, with each product candidate having a distinct mechanism of action and
representing a unique opportunity for cancer drug development. OncoGenex and Teva Pharmaceutical
have entered a global collaboration and license agreement to develop and commercialize OncoGenex’s
lead drug candidate, OGX-011. The companies project the initiation of two Phase 3 trials in
castrate resistant prostate cancer in Q2 and Q3 2010, and a third Phase 3 trial in non-small cell
lung cancer in early 2011; OGX-427 is in Phase 1 clinical development; SN2310 has completed a Phase
1 clinical trial; and CSP-9222 and OGX-225 are currently in pre-clinical development. More
information about OncoGenex is available at www.oncogenex.com.
OncoGenex’ Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor”
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to,
statements concerning value creation, anticipated clinical and other product development activities
and timing of these activities. All statements other than statements of historical fact are
statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. These statements are based on
management’s current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties
and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the
forward-looking statements , including, among others, the risk factors set forth in the Company’s
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal
year 2009. The Company undertakes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained
herein or to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date hereof, other than as may be
required by applicable law.
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OncoGenex Contact:
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Media and Investor Contact: |
Scott Cormack
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Jason Spark |
President & CEO
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Porter Novelli Life Sciences |
(604) 630-5400
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(619) 849-6005 |
scormack@oncogenex.com
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jspark@pnlifesciences.com |
