SAN DIEGO, June 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Organovo
Holdings, Inc. (OTCQX: ONVO), a biotechnology company focused
on delivering breakthrough three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting
technology, today announced that Tamar D.
Howson has been appointed to the Company's Board of
Directors. Ms. Howson was appointed to each of the Board's
standing committees, including its audit committee.
Ms. Howson is a seasoned business development executive within
the pharmaceutical industry, having formerly served as senior vice
president of both Bristol-Meyers Squibb and SmithKline
Beecham. Ms. Howson currently serves as a corporate business
development and strategy consultant to biopharmaceutical companies
and she also serves as a director at Idenix, Oxigene
Pharmaceuticals, and Warner
Chilcott. During 2009 and 2010 she was a member of the
transaction advisory firm, JSB Partners. During 2007 and 2008
she served as senior vice president of Corporate and Business
Development at Lexicon, a biotechnology company. Between 2001 and
2007 Ms. Howson was the senior vice president of Corporate and
Business Development at Bristol Myers Squibb, overseeing mergers
and acquisitions, licensing, and research collaborations across all
business sectors. Between 1991 and 2000 she was vice president and
the senior vice president and director of Worldwide Business and
Corporate Development for SmithKline Beecham where she also managed
SmithKline Beecham's $100 million
venture capital fund, SR One. She has formerly served as a director
at several biotechnology companies, including Ariad, NPS
Pharmaceuticals, and SkyePharma. Ms. Howson holds
an MBA from Columbia University, a MS
from City University of New York, and a
BS in Chemical Engineering from the Technion, Israel.
"We are delighted to have Tamar
Howson join our Board. Her pharmaceutical industry business
development experience will be invaluable as Organovo continues to
build its business and its technology platform. Tamar's skill
set and experience complement an already strong Board that is
focused on delivering research and medical applications using our
breakthrough 3D bioprinting technology," commented Keith Murphy, chairman and chief executive
officer of Organovo.
"Organovo's technology has broad potential to impact a number of
areas in medical research," Ms. Howson said, "I am pleased to be
joining the Board to assist in delivering the greatest possible
impact of the technology in pharmaceutical research and tissue
therapies."
Organovo also announced the resignation of Adam Stern from the Board. Mr. Stern
joined the Board in February 2012,
and was instrumental in structuring and executing the reverse
merger and associated private placement which raised more than
$24 million in equity financing for
the Company. "Adam Stern's
many efforts on behalf of Organovo have contributed strongly to our
successful transition from a private company to a publicly-traded
company with additional capital to execute on a broad research and
development plan that leverages the power of our 3D bioprinting
technology. We look forward to him continuing to advise the
company on an ongoing basis," commented Keith Murphy, Organovo chief executive
officer.
"It has been a pleasure to serve on the Organovo board and to
assist in pushing forward its tremendous technology," said
Adam Stern. "Tamar Howson's accomplishments and experience
make her an excellent addition to Organovo's Board of
Directors."
With the addition of Ms. Howson to the Board of Directors, and
with Mr. Stern stepping down, the Company now has a majority of
directors classified as independent and has three independent
directors serving on the audit committee, each of which is a
requirement for up-listing to either NASDAQ or NYSE.
About Organovo Holdings,
Inc.
Organovo designs and creates functional,
three-dimensional human tissues for medical research and
therapeutic applications. The Company is collaborating with
pharmaceutical and academic partners to develop human biological
disease models in three dimensions. These 3D human tissues have the
potential to accelerate the drug discovery process, enabling
treatments to be developed faster and at lower cost. In addition to
numerous scientific publications, our technology has been featured
in The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, The Economist,
and numerous others. Organovo is changing the shape of
medical research and practice. Learn more
at www.organovo.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
Any statements contained in this
press release that do not describe historical facts may constitute
forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking
statements contained herein are based on current expectations, but
are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. The factors
that could cause actual future results to differ materially from
current expectations include, but are not limited to, risks and
uncertainties relating to the Company's ability to develop, market
and sell products based on its technology; the expected benefits
and efficacy of the Company's products and technology; the
availability of substantial additional funding for the Company to
continue its operations and to conduct research and development,
clinical studies and future product commercialization; and the
Company's business, research, product development, regulatory
approval, marketing and distribution plans and strategies. These
and other factors are identified and described in more detail in
our filings with the SEC, including our transition report on
Form 10-KT filed with the SEC on May
24, 2013. You should not place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date that
they were made. These cautionary statements should be considered
with any written or oral forward-looking statements that we may
issue in the future. Except as required by applicable law,
including the securities laws of the
United States, we do not intend to update any of the
forward-looking statements to conform these statements to reflect
actual results, later events or circumstances or to reflect the
occurrence of unanticipated events.
SOURCE Organovo Holdings, Inc.
