AVI BioPharma Appoints Andrew J. Ferrara to Board Of Directors
PORTLAND, Ore. - May 15, 2002 - AVI BioPharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVII, AVIIW, AVIIZ), today announced the appointment of Andrew J. Ferrara to its board of directors.
Ferrara is President of Boston Healthcare Associates Inc., a consulting firm specializing in helping pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies achieve their development and revenue objectives with an emphasis on strategic and reimbursement planning. The company also announced that Nick Bunick, president of Nick Bunick and Associates, is tendering his resignation to the board after more than eight years of service. The size of the board will remain at nine.
Denis R. Burger, Ph.D., chief executive officer of AVI, said, "I'd like to thank Nick for his service over the years. I'm also delighted to welcome Andrew to the board. His business management experience will prove extremely valuable to the board as we continue to develop our technology platforms and partnerships."
About Andrew J. Ferrara
Ferrara began his career with Eli Lilly & Co. as a sales
representative. In the course of his 20-year tenure with Lilly, he
served in a number of business areas in the United States and Europe
including sales and sales management, marketing, and public relations.
During his last four years at Eli Lilly, he held the title of corporate director of New Product Planning and Licensing.
In 1982, Ferrara left Eli Lilly to join Collaborative Research Inc. He served as group vice president of sales and marketing during his three years there and played a critical role in accomplishing the company's initial public offering. He was also responsible for the execution of a $14 million product development agreement with Sandoz Pharma Ltd. of Switzerland.
In 1984, Ferrara left Collaborative Research to co-found Polygen Corp., a computer software company with more than 100 employees serving the chemical and pharmaceutical research industries. As co-founder and executive vice president he initiated research and licensing agreements, and oversaw business development, sales and product development. Polygen has since adopted the name of the company it acquired in 1991, Molecular Simulations Inc.
In 1987, Ferrara entered the health care consulting field and in 1993 formed Boston Healthcare Associates. Since founding Boston Healthcare, he has been involved in the development of a number of companies including Boston BioLicensing L.L.C. Presently he serves on the boards of MGI Pharma Inc., ProdiGene Inc. and VelQuest Corp. In addition, Ferrara has been a guest lecturer at MIT and Boston College and has presented at numerous professional meetings and conferences on reimbursement planning and business development issues.
Aside from his professional responsibilities, Ferrara has served on the board of the Boston Children's Museum and chaired the board of Brimmer and May School in Boston.
Ferrara holds a degree in Pharmacy from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science.
About AVI BioPharma
AVI BioPharma develops therapeutic products for the treatment of life-threatening diseases using two technology platforms: NeuGene antisense drugs and cancer immunotherapy. Its lead cancer agent, AVICINE®, a therapeutic cancer vaccine, has completed three Phase II trials in colorectal and pancreatic cancer and is initiating a Phase III pivotal trial in pancreatic cancer, with a supporting study in colorectal cancer. The first application of its NeuGene compounds, Resten-NG™, is designed to treat cancer, cardiovascular restenosis and other cell proliferation disorders by inhibiting the production of a cellular transcription factor, the oncogene c-myc. It is currently in Phase II trials for restenosis and in Phase I/II trials for cancer and polycystic kidney disease. AVI has recently completed a Phase I NeuGene antisense study that successfully down-regulated the liver enzyme cytochrome P450 and modified drug metabolism. More information about AVI is available on the Company's Web site at http://www.avibio.com/.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements that are not historical facts contained in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the results of research and development efforts, the results of preclinical and clinical testing, the effect of regulation by the FDA and other agencies, the impact of competitive products, product development, commercialization and technological difficulties, and other risks detailed in the Companies' Securities and Exchange Commission filings.