Intarcia Appoints Michelle Baron, MD, FACE, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer

HAYWARD, Calif., March 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Intarcia Therapeutics, Inc. today announced the appointment of Michelle Baron, MD, FACE, to the position of Vice President Clinical Research and Chief Medical Officer.  Dr. Baron will lead clinical development and medical affairs for the Company, including the global phase 3 development of ITCA 650 (once or twice yearly subcutaneous continuous delivery of exenatide) for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

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"Michelle is an accomplished leader who brings a wealth of scientific and clinical expertise with a proven track record of building high-performing teams that get innovative therapies developed optimally and to market," said Kurt Graves, Executive Chairman and Acting CEO of Intarcia. "Attracting someone with Michelle's proven ability to shape some of the most important medicines in the diabetes field is a key appointment as we initiate our global phase 3 program for ITCA 650."

Dr. Baron is well recognized throughout the industry as an accomplished physician in clinical drug development and medical affairs, with deep expertise in cardiovascular, endocrinology and metabolic diseases.  Prior to joining Intarcia, Dr. Baron was Vice President, Diabetes U.S. at Sanofi-Aventis, where her responsibilities included the design and commercialization of a U.S. Diabetes Patient Solutions Platform. Michelle also assessed business development opportunities and strategic partnerships for the U.S. Diabetes Division.  Prior to her work at Sanofi-Aventis, Dr. Baron spent ten years at Novartis, most recently serving as Senior Medical Director, Diabetes Section of the Cardiovascular and Metabolism U.S. Clinical Development and Medical Affairs group.  Michelle was a key member of the leadership team responsible for designing and executing the clinical development, registration and commercialization strategies for Novartis' diabetes portfolio in the U.S.  She previously served as Program Director of the Endocrinology and Metabolism Fellowship Program, the Director of the Osteoporosis Diagnostic Center, and Fellow at the SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn, and as an Attending Physician in the Department of Medicine at Kings County Medical Center.  She continues to serve as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine's Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at SUNY.  Dr. Baron received her MD from Howard University College of Medicine, her BA from The Johns Hopkins University and did her postgraduate training in Internal Medicine at Emory University.

"GLP-1 analogue therapies are among the most efficacious and fastest growing treatments available for patients with type 2 diabetes.  However, the need for regular administration by injection and bothersome side effects has limited patient acceptance and adherence to therapy," commented Dr. Baron.  Sub-optimal glucose reductions and poor patient adherence to therapy continue to be two of the greatest challenges to achieving glycemic goals and optimizing diabetes care over time.  The goal of the ITCA 650 program is to enhance both the important clinical properties of GLP-1 analogue therapy in a manner that will benefit a broader patient population and also by delivering a full year of exenatide treatment in just one or two administrations per year.  "Once or twice yearly ITCA 650 holds the exciting potential to break away from regular self-injections and help physicians, patients and payers meet their common objectives to reach glucose lowering goals and ensure patient adherence.  It is exciting to join a team that is working to transform the way in which we care for patients with type 2 diabetes."

In December 2011, Intarcia announced the selection of Quintiles as a worldwide development partner in what will shortly become a three-party collaboration between Intarcia, Quintiles and a Global Pharmaceutical Partner.  Quintiles is ramping up to initiate the global phase 3 development program for ITCA 650, which consists of six phase 3 studies, four of which are intended to evaluate the potential of ITCA 650 to demonstrate superiority against the most commonly used oral antidiabetic medicines.  Quintiles has also made strategic investments in Intarcia and the ITCA 650 program to help accelerate ITCA 650 to market.

About Intarcia Therapeutics, Inc.
Intarcia Therapeutics, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company developing therapies to enhance treatment outcomes by improving the efficacy, tolerability and long-term control and compliance profile of important medicines for serious diseases. Its proprietary technology platforms can transform would-be injectable medicines into just once or twice yearly medicines with enhanced pharmacokinetics, virtually ensured compliance, and the peace of mind related to continuous delivery of the target therapeutic benefits.  Intarcia's innovations and competitive advantages are derived by its ability to stabilize proteins, peptides and antibody fragments at above-body temperatures for long-periods of time while delivering them in a constant and consistent manner for a year or more via a very small osmotic mini-pump drug delivery technology. Intarcia is initiating a global phase 3 development program for type 2 diabetes and has additional programs ongoing for weight regulation to control obesity. For more information, please visit www.intarcia.com.

Intarcia and its logo are registered trademarks of Intarcia Therapeutics, Inc. DUROS is a registered trademark of ALZA Corporation licensed to Intarcia Therapeutics, Inc. in a broad set of therapeutic fields.

SOURCE Intarcia Therapeutics, Inc.