ANN ARBOR, Mich., Feb. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Adeona
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE Amex: AEN), a developer of synthetic
DNA-based therapeutics and innovative disease-modifying medicines
for serious illnesses, announced today that C. Evan Ballantyne has joined the Company as
Chief Financial Officer. In this position, Mr. Ballantyne will be
responsible for all aspects of the Company's financial, accounting
and investor relations functions.
From 2006 until its acquisition in April
2011, Mr. Ballantyne served as Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer of Clinical Data, Inc., a publicly-traded
biopharmaceutical company which was acquired by Forest
Laboratories, Inc. for $1.3 billion.
While at Clinical Data, Mr. Ballantyne was instrumental in leading
corporate financings totaling approximately $220 million as well as a number of acquisition
and divestitures totaling $116
million.
"We are very pleased to welcome Evan to the Adeona leadership
team. Evan's significant financial, strategic and operating
experience in the biopharmaceutical sector will be valuable assets
to the Company, as we continue to build Adeona's portfolio of
synthetic biologics and DNA-based human therapeutics," stated
Jeff Riley, Chief Executive Officer,
President and Chairman at Adeona. "With Evan's exceptionally strong
track record in finance and management, I look forward to working
closely with him to continue to strengthen the Company and increase
shareholder value."
Mr. Ballantyne has also served as Chief Financial Officer of a
number of private medical technology companies, including Avedro
and ZymeQuest. Earlier in his career, Mr. Ballantyne served as Vice
President and Chief Operating Officer for ACNielsen Europe Middle
East & Africa and held the
Chief Financial Officer position as well for two years. There, he
was responsible for all aspects of operations, strategic planning
and finance in more than 45 countries for a corporation with 9,700
employees. He also helped lead the company's successful ISO
certification process. Mr. Ballantyne began his career at the Dun
& Bradstreet Corporation where he held several senior financial
positions.
Mr. Ballantyne earned a B.A. from the University of Western Ontario, and took a
post-graduate degree in Business Administration with Honors from
the University of Windsor.
About Adeona Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Adeona is a biotechnology company focused on the development of
synthetic DNA-based therapeutics and innovative disease-modifying
medicines for serious illnesses. Adeona is developing, or has
partnered the development of, product candidates to treat pulmonary
arterial hypertension, relapses in multiple sclerosis, cognitive
dysfunction in multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia and amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis (ALS). For more information, please visit
Adeona's website at www.adeonapharma.com.
In December 2011, Adeona announced
that the Board of Directors had taken several actions to prioritize
the company's focus on its recent entry into the emerging field of
synthetic biologics. As a result of its new primary focus, the
Board approved a proposed name change of the company to Synthetic
Biologics, Inc., to better reflect its new mission and primary
business. Such name change is subject to stockholder approval.
Synthetic Biologics is a trademark of Adeona Pharmaceuticals,
Inc.
This release includes forward-looking statements on Adeona's
current expectations and projections about future events. In some
cases forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology
such as "may," "should," "potential," "continue," "expects,"
"anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," and
similar expressions. These statements are based upon current
beliefs, expectations and assumptions and are subject to a number
of risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict
and include statements regarding our ability to continue to build
shareholder value. The forward-looking statements are subject to
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those set forth or implied by any forward-looking
statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those reflected in Adeona's forward-looking
statements include, among others, a failure to successfully
integrate the new management and other factors described in
Adeona's report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010 and any other filings with the
SEC. The information in this release is provided only as of the
date of this release, and Adeona undertakes no obligation to update
any forward-looking statements contained in this release on account
of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required
by law.
SOURCE Adeona Pharmaceuticals, Inc.