Dermavant Sciences Appoints Dr. Jacqualyn Fouse as Executive Chairman

- Dr. Fouse recently served as President and COO of Celgene Corp. and a member of Celgene's Board of Directors

- Dr. Fouse joins growing network of industry leaders within the Roivant Sciences family of companies

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Jul 10, 2017, 08:45 ET

BASEL, Switzerland, July 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Dermavant Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and commercializing innovative therapies in medical dermatology, today announced the appointment of Dr. Jacqualyn "Jackie" Fouse as Executive Chairman.

"I am honored to lead Dermavant and look forward to building the world's leading innovative medical dermatology company," said Dr. Fouse. "For the past decade there has been an 'innovation gap' in medical dermatology, with surprisingly few novel therapies despite a greater understanding of the pathophysiology of many dermatologic conditions. Physicians and patients are eager for better options."

"In less than two years, Dermavant has created a robust pipeline of promising potential therapies targeting multiple indications," Dr. Fouse continued. "I believe the company is well on its way to being the ideal development and commercialization partner for innovative dermatology medicines. I am impressed with the quality of the Dermavant team and the entire Roivant organization."

"We are delighted to welcome Jackie to the helm of Dermavant," said Vivek Ramaswamy, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Roivant Sciences. "She is an exceptional leader and one of the most admired executives in the biopharmaceutical industry. Jackie is emblematic of the caliber of leadership that we seek to attract to the Roivant family of companies."

Dr. Fouse previously served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Celgene Corporation until April 2017, and as a member of Celgene's Board of Directors through June 2017. She joined Celgene in 2010 as Chief Financial Officer and was named president of the company's global Hematology & Oncology franchise in 2014. Her experience at Celgene included working closely with the business unit that launched OTEZLA® for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis and active psoriatic arthritis.

Before joining Celgene, Dr. Fouse served as Chief Financial Officer of Bunge Limited, a leading global agribusiness and food company. Prior to Bunge, she served as Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Head of Corporate Strategy at Alcon Laboratories, a leading ophthalmic pharmaceutical and medical device company. Prior to her tenure with Alcon, she held a variety of senior leadership roles with international companies, spending almost a decade of her career in Switzerland. Dr. Fouse earned her B.A. and M.A. in Economics and a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Texas at Arlington.

About Dermavant Sciences

Dermavant Sciences is dedicated to developing and, upon regulatory approval, commercializing innovative therapies in medical dermatology. Dermavant currently has three investigational drugs in development: RVT-501, RVT-502, and RVT-201. RVT-501 is a highly potent and selective topical phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor currently in a Phase 2 clinical program for patients with mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis. RVT-502, also known as cerdulatinib, is a dual spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) and janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor being developed as a topical therapy for a variety of serious dermatologic conditions. RVT-201 is a caspase-1 inhibitor that acts to inhibit the production of inflammatory cytokines and is being developed for inflammatory skin diseases. For more information, please visit dermavantsciences.com.

About Roivant Sciences

Roivant Sciences is dedicated to realizing the full potential of promising biomedical research by developing and commercializing novel therapies across diverse therapeutic areas. Roivant partners with innovative biopharmaceutical companies and academic institutions to ensure that important medicines are rapidly developed and delivered to patients. Roivant advances its drug pipelines through wholly- or majority-owned subsidiary companies, including Axovant (NYSE: AXON) (neurology), Myovant (NYSE: MYOV) (women's health and endocrine diseases), Dermavant (dermatology), Enzyvant (rare diseases), and Urovant (urology). Roivant's partners include Merck, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline, Eisai, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Duke University, and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Roivant's long-range mission is to reduce the time and cost of developing new medicines for patients. For more information, please visit roivant.com.

OTEZLA® is a registered trademark of Celgene Corporation.