GAITHERSBURG, Md., Aug. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MedImmune, Inc.
(Nasdaq: MEDI) announced today that David Baltimore, Ph.D., a world-renowned
scientist, has been appointed to its board of directors. Currently the
president of the California Institute of Technology, Dr. Baltimore has also
served as the president of The Rockefeller University and as the founding
director of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was elected to the U.S. National
Academy of Sciences in 1974 and appointed in 1996 to head the National
Institutes of Health AIDS Vaccine Research Committee. Dr. Baltimore has
received many prestigious awards, including the 1999 National Medal of Science
and the 1975 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discoveries concerning
the interaction between tumor viruses and the genetic material of the cell.
Wayne T. Hockmeyer, Ph.D., MedImmune's chairman and founder, stated:
"David Baltimore has played a key leadership role in the advancement of the
biotechnology industry, public health and many preeminent academic
institutions of science and medicine. Dr. Baltimore has also had the
opportunity to contribute to the business of biotechnology through his
experience on the boards of directors for Amgen, Inc. and BB Biotech AG, a
long-time MedImmune shareholder. We look forward to Dr. Baltimore's
contribution to our board from his vantage point as a scientific, medical and
industry leader."
Dr. Baltimore is replacing Franklin H. Top, Jr., M.D., who is retiring
after 15 years of service on the MedImmune board. Dr. Top will maintain his
role as the company's Medical Director, a position he has held since joining
MedImmune in 1988. During his long career at MedImmune, Dr. Top has overseen
the clinical development of the company's currently marketed products,
including its flagship product, Synagis(R) (palivizumab), which is used to
prevent serious lower respiratory tract disease caused by respiratory
syncytial virus (RSV) in pediatric patients at high risk for RSV (see full
prescribing information at www.medimmune.com).
Dr. Hockmeyer commented on Dr. Top by saying: "Over the last 15 years,
MedImmune has benefited greatly from Dr. Top's wisdom, integrity and
experience as a pediatric infectious disease specialist and virologist. We
look forward to his continued participation as a member of our senior
management team."
With this transition, MedImmune's nine-member board of directors includes
six independent directors.
MedImmune is a leading biotechnology company focused on researching,
developing and commercializing products to prevent or treat infectious
disease, autoimmune disease and cancer. MedImmune actively markets four
products, Synagis(R) (palivizumab), FluMist(TM) (influenza virus vaccine live,
intranasal), Ethyol(R) (amifostine) and CytoGam(R) (cytomegalovirus immune
globulin intravenous (human)), and has additional products in clinical
testing. MedImmune employs approximately 1,700 people, is headquartered in
Gaithersburg, Maryland, and has additional operations in Frederick, Maryland,
as well as Pennsylvania, California, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
For more information on MedImmune, and for full prescribing information on
MedImmune's products, visit the company's website at www.medimmune.com.
This announcement may contain, in addition to historical information,
certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Such
statements with respect to MedImmune reflect the current views of MedImmune's
management and are based on certain assumptions. Actual results for MedImmune
could differ materially from those currently anticipated as a result of a
number of factors, including risks and uncertainties discussed in MedImmune's
filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. MedImmune is
developing several products for potential future marketing. There can be no
assurance that such development efforts will succeed, that such products will
receive required regulatory clearance or that, even if such regulatory
clearance were received, such products would ultimately achieve commercial
success.
SOURCE MedImmune, Inc.
-0- 08/14/2003
/CONTACT: Investors: William Roberts, +1-301-527-4358, or John Filler,
+1-240-632-4086, or Media: Lori Weiman, +1-301-527-4321, all of MedImmune,
Inc./
/Web site: http://www.medimmune.com/
(MEDI)
CO: MedImmune, Inc.
ST: Maryland
IN: BIO HEA MTC
SU: PER
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