New CEO at Auxilium

Adrian Adams has been named chief executive officer and president of Auxilium Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Adams succeeds Armando Anido, who resigned from those roles after discussions with the company’s board.

Mr. Adams has more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, most recently serving as chairman and chief executive officer of Neurologix. Prior to that, he served as president and chief executive officer of Inspire Pharmaceuticals, where he oversaw the commercialization and development of prescription pharmaceutical products and led the company through a strategic acquisition by Merck & Co. Prior to Inspire, he served as president and chief executive officer of Sepracor, from 2007 until its acquisition by Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma in 2010. Prior to joining Sepracor, Mr. Adams was president and chief executive officer of Kos Pharmaceuticals from 2002 until the acquisition of the company by Abbott Laboratories in 2006. Mr. Adams has also held general management and senior international and national marketing positions at Novartis, SmithKline Beecham and ICI (now part of AstraZeneca). The company gave no indication, despite Mr. Adams’ employment history, that Auxilium is looking for a buyout.

“Adrian is an industry veteran with an excellent reputation for growing organizations, driving corporate development activities and successfully building pipelines to create value for shareholders,” said Rolf Classon , chairman of Auxilium’s board. “We believe that his visionary leadership and operational expertise will lead Auxilium to profitability and success as we seek to maximize the value of Xiaflex and Testim while delivering on our current pipeline. We welcome Adrian to Auxilium and believe the company can continue to build from its solid foundation and strong growth prospects.”