Avanir Pharmaceuticals Announces Appointment of Rohan Palekar as Chief Commercial Officer

ALISO VIEJO, Calif., March 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVNR) today announced the appointment of Rohan Palekar to the position of senior vice president and chief commercial officer. Mr. Palekar will be responsible for leading all of the company's commercial activities.

"Rohan has an outstanding track record of success in biopharmaceutical sales and marketing," said Keith A. Katkin, president and CEO of Avanir. "I am delighted that we were able to attract someone of Rohan's caliber to spearhead our global commercial activities. His comprehensive background in healthcare sales and marketing, new product planning and strategic analysis, as well as his leadership capabilities, will be pivotal to the continued commercial success of Avanir."

Mr. Palekar has over 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and has worked on significant brands including Remicade® and Stelara®, as well as the investigational therapy MDV3100. Mr. Palekar's most recent commercial leadership role was as chief commercial officer for Medivation, where he was responsible for all commercial activities, CMC & manufacturing and public relations functions. Prior to Medivation, Mr. Palekar spent 16+ years at Johnson & Johnson in various senior commercial and strategic management roles, most recently as a vice president of sales & marketing at Centocor, where he successfully launched two new indications for Remicade.  Prior to that, Mr. Palekar was the worldwide vice president of immunology and held marketing leadership roles at McNeil Consumer and Specialty Pharmaceuticals.  Mr. Palekar earned his MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration Dartmouth College and his BA/BS in Law and Accounting from the University of Bombay.

"I am excited to be joining the Avanir team and working with this talented group to help make NUEDEXTA available to patients and physicians worldwide," said Rohan Palekar, senior vice president and chief commercial officer of Avanir. "The growth opportunity that lies ahead for Avanir is incredible and I look forward to the chance to positively affect the lives of patients suffering from pseudobulbar affect and other CNS disorders."

About Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on bringing innovative medicines to patients with central nervous system disorders of high unmet medical need. As part of our commitment, we have extensively invested in our pipeline and are dedicated to advancing medicines that can substantially improve the lives of patients and their loved ones. For more information about Avanir, please visit www.avanir.com.

Avanir® and NUEDEXTA® are registered trademarks owned by Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

©2012 Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Forward Looking Statements

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including statements regarding Avanir's plans, potential opportunities, financial or other expectations, projections, goals objectives, milestones, strategies, market growth, timelines, legal matters, product pipeline, clinical studies, product development and the potential benefits of its commercialized products and products under development are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including the risks and uncertainties associated with Avanir's operating performance and financial position, the market demand for and acceptance of Avanir's products domestically and internationally, research, development and commercialization of products domestically and internationally, obtaining and maintaining regulatory approvals domestically and internationally, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other documents subsequently filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements are based on current information that may change and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the issuance of this press release.

Avanir Investor & Media Contact
Ian Clements, PhD
[email protected]
+1 (949) 389-6700

SOURCE Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc.