Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals Strengthens Executive Team by Appointing James Gilbert, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Jan. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing therapeutic agents for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, announced today that it has appointed James (Jim) Gilbert, M.D., as chief medical officer (CMO).

"A biopharmaceutical industry veteran with deep cardiovascular clinical development experience, Jim Gilbert is a great addition to the Cardioxyl executive team," said Chris Kroeger, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer. Most recently, Dr. Gilbert served as CMO of Archemix Corp., where he led the team driving the company's lead product candidate through Phase IIb clinical trials. "His experience will be a true asset to Cardioxyl as we continue to progress the clinical program for our lead drug candidate, CXL-1020, through Phase II in acute decompensated heart failure," said Dr. Kroeger.

Dr. Gilbert has more than 25 years of pharmaceutical industry and medical experience, particularly in managing clinical development of programs in cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases. As Chief Medical Officer at Cardioxyl, he will oversee clinical development of nitroxyl therapeutics for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The company's lead program, CXL-1020, is a novel, proprietary nitroxyl donor currently in development as a potential therapy for acute decompensated heart failure. Additional nitroxyl donor compounds are in various stages of pre-clinical development addressing areas of significant unmet medical need in other cardiovascular indications.

Prior to joining Archemix Corp. in 2006 as Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Clinical & Regulatory Affairs, Dr. Gilbert spent close to three years as Vice President of Clinical Development, Cardiovascular/Inflammation at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. He was responsible for early clinical development of Millennium's pipeline of novel immunomodulators and for late-stage development of its marketed cardiovascular product, Integrilin®. Prior to Millennium, he held positions of increasing responsibility over seven years at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., including serving as Global Therapeutic Area Head for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases. He also previously worked at Bayer Corporation.

Dr. Gilbert received his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and his Bachelor's degree from Yale University in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry. Before taking a position within the pharmaceutical industry, he was an instructor in the Departments of Medicine and Pharmacology at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and a staff physician at St. Mary's Hospital in Waterbury, Connecticut.

About Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals

Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of new classes of safe and effective therapeutic agents for the treatment of cardiovascular disease.  Cardioxyl has developed industry-leading expertise in the chemistry, biology and clinical applications of HNO (nitroxyl) technology.  The company's core HNO platform has generated several preclinical and clinical candidates, including the company's lead compound, CXL-1020, currently in clinical development for ADHF.  Cardioxyl is a privately held company financed by life science venture investors Aurora Funds and New Enterprise Associates.

INTEGRILIN is a registered trademark of Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

SOURCE Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals, Inc.