XOMA CEO Resigns

Steve Engle has resigned from his positions as XOMA‘s chief executive officer, president and chairman of the board, effective immediately. The board has appointed John Varian, a current board member, as interim chief executive officer, and W. Denman Van Ness, XOMA’s lead independent director, as chairman. The board has initiated a search for a permanent replacement to fill these positions.

“During his four years at XOMA, Steve has led the team in the transformation of the company into a more product-focused organization. On behalf of the board, we wish to thank Steve for his dedicated service and are happy that he will remain available as a consultant in the coming months,” said Mr. Van Ness. “We also appreciate John stepping into the role of interim chief executive officer as we seek a new CEO to lead XOMA going forward.”

“It has been an honor to work with the many talented and dedicated people at XOMA. Together, we have made important progress in our goal to develop new drugs that have the potential to give patients better options to treat their diseases,” said Mr. Engle. “I am looking forward to applying my expertise building life science companies in the future.”

Mr. Varian has served as a XOMA director since December 2008. He was chief operating officer of Aryx Therapeutics from December 2003 through August 2011 and served as chief financial officer from April 2006 through March 2011. Previously, Mr. Varian was chief financial officer of Genset S.A., where he was a key member of the team negotiating the company’s sale to Serono S.A. in 2002.