Cylene Pharmaceuticals Announces New Vice President of Clinical Operations

San Diego - April 07, 2004

Cylene Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an oncology drug discovery and development company, today announced that John K.C. Lim, Pharm.D., has joined the company as Vice President of Clinical Operations. Dr. Lim brings to Cylene more that 15 years of experience in clinical research and new drug development, principally in the oncology and biotechnology arenas, according to William Rice, Ph.D., President and CEO of Cylene.

"We are extremely pleased to have Dr. Lim join Cylene," said Dr. Rice. "John will team up with Cylene co-founder Dr. Daniel Von Hoff for the strategic design and execution of our preclinical and clinical development programs, including our recently selected clinical candidate, CX-3543."

"I am looking forward to working with John, who brings an enormous wealth of experience and expertise to bear on the clinical development of our compounds," added Dr. Von Hoff.

Dr. Lim joined Cylene from US Oncology Research, where he was the Vice President for Research Operations. US Oncology, the country's premier cancer care services company, and its network of research sites has contributed to the development and approval of 18 new cancer agents over the past decade. Prior to joining US Oncology, Dr. Lim held senior operations positions at Covance and Quintiles, and was active in the development of new drugs from early phase trials through post marketing research. Previously, Dr. Lim held the positions of Vice President and General Manager for the Oncology Research Network, Vice President of the Gastroenterology Research Network, and Vice President for International Operations at Theradex, an oncology focused CRO, where he opened offices for the company in the U.K., France and Australia. Dr. Lim earned his Pharmacy degree from the University of Otago and his Doctoral degree at the University of Kentucky.

Cylene Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a privately-held pharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of first-in-class small molecule drugs to treat life-threatening diseases, with a particular emphasis in oncology. Cylene's pipeline is led by CX-3543, a c-Myc/VEGF Oncogene Inhibitor which demonstrates potent in vivo efficacy in xenograft models of human solid tumors and is currently in preclinical development. CX-3543 and other molecules in the pipeline originate from the company's proprietary platform, which directs small molecules at molecular targets that regulate the expression of key oncogenes. The company is establishing its leadership position in small molecule regulation of oncogene expression by commercializing the pioneering work of two Cylene founders, Professors Laurence Hurley and Daniel Von Hoff.