Depomed Announces Appointment of R. Scott Shively as Chief Commercial Officer

NEWARK, Calif., Aug. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Depomed, Inc. (Nasdaq: DEPO) today announced the appointment of  R. Scott Shively, as Chief Commercial Officer and Senior Vice President.   Mr. Shively has extensive commercial leadership experience in sales and marketing of pain and neurology products, for both specialty as well as larger pharmaceutical companies.   

Mr. Shively served as Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Zogenix from November 2012 through August 2014 where he directed all commercial efforts of the company. From 2009 to 2012, he was Vice President - Global Commercial Disease Area Lead for Pain for Pfizer, Inc., where he had global commercial leadership responsibility for Pfizer's marketed pain products, including Lyrica and Celebrex, as well as for all pain pipeline products. From 2007 to 2009, Mr. Shively was Senior Vice President for Commercial Operations at Alpharma Pharmaceuticals, a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on pain management, where he led the expansion of their commercial organization and new product launches, tripling brand sales within two years.  Prior to Alpharma, Mr. Shively served as Senior Vice President for Global Respiratory as well as interim President and Chief Executive Officer, USA at Altana AG. At Altana, Mr. Shively was responsible for the company's U.S. operations, including a sales force of over 500 representatives. Prior to Altana, Mr. Shively was VP of Marketing for Endo Pharmaceuticals for five years, during a period of rapid growth of Lidoderm and other pain and CNS brands.  Earlier in his career, Mr. Shively held a variety of international and domestic commercial leadership roles at subsidiaries of Sanofi-Aventis. Mr. Shively received a B.S. in Zoology from Duke University with a pre-medical focus.

"We are extremely pleased to have Scott join us as Chief Commercial Officer," said Jim Schoeneck, President and Chief Executive Officer.  "He has deep experience commercializing products for pain and has spent much of his career helping companies significantly grow their business.  This is an exciting time at Depomed. With our strong base of four marketed products and our intent to acquire additional assets, we believe that Scott's background in managing large, multi-product sales forces and marketing teams will help us accomplish our goals.  His experience in growing organizations is a great fit for Depomed as we build a leading specialty pharmaceutical company focused on pain and central nervous system disorders."

"I am very excited to be joining Depomed," said Mr. Shively.  "I believe that Depomed has a great portfolio of marketed products in pain and neurology.  I look forward to working closely with Jim and the rest of the Depomed team to continue the revenue growth of the existing portfolio and to help identify and acquire additional products, with the goal of achieving a leadership position in pain and CNS."

About Depomed

Depomed is a specialty pharmaceutical company that commercializes products for pain and neurology related disorders.  Gralise^® (gabapentin) is a once-daily treatment approved for the management of postherpetic neuralgia. CAMBIA^® (diclofenac potassium for oral solution) is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug indicated for acute treatment of migraine attacks with or without aura in adults (18 years of age or older). Zipsor^® (diclofenac potassium) Liquid Filled Capsules is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug indicated for relief of mild to moderate acute pain in adults.  Lazanda^® (fentanyl) Nasal Spray is an intranasal fentanyl drug used to manage breakthrough pain in adults (18 years of age or older) who are already routinely taking other opioid pain medicines around-the-clock for cancer pain. Gralise and various partner product candidates are formulated with Depomed's proven, proprietary Acuform^® drug delivery technology.   Additional information about Depomed may be found at www.depomed.com.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  The statements that are not historical facts contained in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, risks related to the company's ability to achieve its corporate goals and acquire or in-license new products and the risks detailed in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 and the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2014.  The inclusion of forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation that any of the company's plans or objectives will be achieved.  You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.  The company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

INVESTOR CONTACT:
August J. Moretti
Depomed, Inc.
510-744-8000
[email protected]

MEDIA CONTACT:
Carolyn Hawley
Canale Communications for Depomed
619-849-5375
[email protected]

SOURCE Depomed, Inc.