Sangamo BioSciences Appoints William R. Ringo as Chairman of the Board of Directors

RICHMOND, Calif., April 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: SGMO), a leader in the research and development of novel zinc finger DNA-binding proteins (ZFPs) for therapeutic gene regulation and modification, announced the appointment of William R. Ringo to the position of chairman of the Company's board of directors effective April 16, 2010.  

"Bill has had a distinguished career in both pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and is highly regarded in the industry. I am delighted to welcome him to our board and very pleased that he has agreed to serve as our chairman," said Edward Lanphier, Sangamo's president and CEO. "His broad experience in strategic planning, business development and overall management and operational skills will be very useful to us as we continue to develop our ZFP Therapeutic platform and build shareholder value."

Until his retirement on April 30, 2010 as previously announced, Mr. Ringo is Senior Vice President of Business Development, Strategy and Innovation at Pfizer Inc. where he has had responsibility for guiding Pfizer's overall strategic planning and business development activities. Prior to joining Pfizer in 2008, he held a number of senior roles in the biopharmaceutical industry in both management and board capacities. He was President and CEO of Abgenix, Inc., a biotechnology firm focused on developing human antibodies as agents to treat cancer and other serious diseases, which merged with its partner Amgen in 2006. Prior to Abgenix, Mr. Ringo was the non-executive chairman of the board of directors of InterMune, Inc., after serving as interim CEO.

Mr. Ringo began his career at Eli Lilly & Company in 1973 and during his 28-year tenure held a number of senior positions, including Product Group President for Oncology and Critical Care, President of Internal Medicine Products, President of the Infectious Diseases Business Unit, and Vice President of Sales and Marketing for U.S. Pharmaceuticals. His extensive senior executive experience in both biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies provides valuable operational, commercial assessment and corporate leadership skills to the Sangamo board.

"I have been closely following Sangamo's progress over the past several years and am impressed with the significant advances that the company has made in developing its novel technology for gene regulation and gene modification," said Mr. Ringo. "I am very pleased to join Sangamo's board of directors and look forward to working with the board and the leadership team to enhance development of therapeutic applications of Sangamo's proprietary ZFP technology and in the further maturation of the Company."

Mr. Ringo has served on a number of public and private company boards of directors. In addition to Abgenix and InterMune, those companies have included Encysive Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He has also served as an executive in residence at Warburg Pincus and Sofinnova Ventures. Mr. Ringo currently serves on the board of directors of BioCrossroads, a public-private collaboration of corporate, university, government and entrepreneurial leaders that supports Indiana's life sciences research and corporate strengths in life sciences. He received a B.S. in Business Administration and an M.B.A. from the University of Dayton.

About Sangamo BioSciences Inc.

Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. is focused on the research and development of novel DNA-binding proteins for therapeutic gene regulation and modification. The most advanced ZFP Therapeutic™ development program is currently in a Phase 2b clinical trial for evaluation of safety and clinical effect in patients with diabetic neuropathy and a Phase 2 trial in ALS. Sangamo also has two Phase 1 clinical trials to evaluate safety and clinical effect of a treatment for HIV/AIDS and another Phase 1 trial to evaluate safety and clinical effect of a treatment for recurrent glioblastoma multiforme. Other therapeutic development programs are focused on neuropathic pain, nerve regeneration, Parkinson's disease and monogenic diseases. Sangamo's core competencies enable the engineering of a class of DNA-binding proteins known as zinc finger DNA-binding proteins (ZFPs). By engineering ZFPs that recognize a specific DNA sequence Sangamo has created ZFP transcription factors (ZFP TFs) that can control gene expression and, consequently, cell function. Sangamo is also developing sequence-specific ZFP Nucleases (ZFNs) for gene modification. Sangamo has established strategic partnerships with companies in non-therapeutic applications of its technology including Dow AgroSciences and Sigma-Aldrich Corporation. For more information about Sangamo, visit the company's web site at http://www.sangamo.com/.

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding Sangamo's current expectations. These forward looking statements include, without limitation, references to the development of Sangamo's clinical pipeline, establishing Sangamo's ZFP technology as a novel therapeutic product development platform and election of directors. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include the early stage of ZFP Therapeutic development, uncertainties related to the timing of initiation and completion of clinical trials, and whether clinical trial results will validate and support the safety and efficacy of ZFP Therapeutics. Further, there can be no assurance that the necessary regulatory approvals will be obtained or that Sangamo will be able to develop commercially viable gene based therapeutics. Actual results may differ from those projected in forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties that exist in the Company's operations and business environments. These risks and uncertainties are described more fully in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of this date and will not be updated.

SOURCE Sangamo BioSciences, Inc.