Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals Expands Industry Expertise with Five New Executive Hires

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (Inspiration) announced today that it has added new leaders who will play pivotal roles as the company moves toward commercialization of products in late-stage development for hemophilia. Inspiration has appointed Robert Corcoran as Senior Vice President, Quality, Mike Keavany as Vice President of Commercial Operations, North America, Mark De Rosch, Ph.D., as Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, Neil Schauer, Ph.D., as Vice President, Process Sciences, and Lorrie Ferraro as Vice President, Human Resources.

Mr. Corcoran brings extensive quality and biopharmaceutical operations experience to Inspiration, serving most recently as Vice President of Quality at Aegerion Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Aegerion, Mr. Corcoran served as Vice President of Quality at Shire Human Genetic Therapies/TKT, with responsibility for global quality operations spanning six sites. He also spent 12 years at Genetics Institute/Wyeth in positions of increasing responsibility, where he made key contributions to the development and commercialization of hemophilia products. Mr. Corcoran received his M.S. from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and his B.S. from the Catholic University of America.

Mr. Keavany brings over 15 years of hemophilia commercial experience to Inspiration. Most recently, Mr. Keavany served as Vice President of Sales and Operations at CSL Behring, where he led three sales teams and launched six products in a variety of rare diseases, including hemophilia. Before joining CSL, he served as Vice President of Specialty Sales at Wyeth. In this position, he led their Hemophilia, Oncology and Transplant teams. Earlier in his career, he helped build Genetics Institute's first sales organization and launched the first recombinant FIX. He previously spent 15 years with Zeneca in positions of increasing responsibility in Sales, Marketing and Managed Care. Mr. Keavany received his B.S. from Western New England College.

Dr. De Rosch will lead global regulatory affairs at Inspiration, managing activities and relationships with regulatory agencies around the world. Immediately prior to joining Inspiration, Dr. De Rosch was Senior Director of Global Regulatory Strategy at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. In this position, he led the global submission team for a new therapy targeting an underlying defect in cystic fibrosis, which was recently approved in the U.S. Before joining Vertex, he served as Director of Regulatory Affairs at Berlex Laboratories, Inc. He began his career as a research chemist at Mallinckrodt Medical, Inc. and Diatide, before transitioning into roles in product development and regulatory affairs. Dr. De Rosch earned his Ph.D. at the University of California, San Diego and his B.S. at the University of Wisconsin – Parkside.

As Vice President, Process Sciences, Dr. Schauer will work across teams at Inspiration to further develop the company's scientific, technical and operational capabilities. Before joining Inspiration, he served as Senior Director, Process Development, Global Biologics Research and Development at Hospira, where he held primary responsibility for the technical oversight of drug substance and drug product process development activities for Hospira's growing portfolio of biosimilar products. Dr. Schauer also served previously as Director, DSP Research and Development at Millipore Corporation. Earlier in his career, Dr. Schauer built experience in process development and manufacturing sciences with positions at Lexigen/EMD (Merck) and Biogen Idec, following 13 years at Genetics Institute/Wyeth in roles of increasing responsibility. Dr. Schauer earned his Ph.D. at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Ms. Ferraro will serve as Vice President, Human Resources, and will be responsible for overseeing the global planning, development, implementation and administration of the company's human resources strategies and programs. Immediately prior to joining Inspiration, Ms. Ferraro served as Vice President, Human Resources at PAREXEL International, the global biopharmaceutical services organization. Prior to PAREXEL, she was Global Director of Human Resources at NetGenesis, Axis Communications and Applied Science and Technology. Ms. Ferraro is certified nationally as a Global Professional of Human Resources and Senior Professional in Human Resources through the Society for HR, and is a Certified Compensation Professional through World at Work. She received her B.S. in International Business from Franklin Pierce College.

"The addition of Bob, Mike, Mark, Neil and Lorrie will bring more than 100 years of combined experience at a variety of leading biopharmaceutical organizations—including specific expertise in hemophilia and other rare diseases—to the Inspiration team," said John P. Butler, Chief Executive Officer of Inspiration. "I am confident that they will each play an integral role in supporting our success as we transition Inspiration to a fully integrated commercial company."

All five hires will be based at Inspiration headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

About Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals
As the only biopharmaceutical company dedicated solely to hemophilia, Inspiration is committed to improving the care of people with this condition by broadening treatment choices, expanding global access to care and advancing innovative therapies. Founded by two families whose sons have hemophilia, Inspiration is inspired to make a difference in the lives of people impacted by hemophilia around the world. Inspiration's lead product candidates are IB1001, an investigational intravenous recombinant factor IX being developed for the treatment of hemophilia B, and OBI-1, an investigational recombinant porcine factor VIII being developed for the treatment of serious bleeds in patients with congenital hemophilia A with inhibitors or acquired hemophilia A.

For more information about Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals, please visit www.inspirationbio.com.

SOURCE Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.