CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Ironwood
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: IRWD) announced today the appointment
of Julie McHugh to its board of directors. Ms. McHugh has served in
leadership positions for both large pharmaceutical and small
biotechnology businesses and brings to the Ironwood board significant
experience in operations, strategy, product development and marketing.
"Julie has an incredible breadth of healthcare industry experience,
having leveraged both internal and external innovation to lead several
companies with products that serve a range of patient needs," said Peter
Hecht, chief executive officer of Ironwood. "Ironwood has been able to
attract a board filled with directors that have business savvy, a strong
interest in our company, absolute integrity, great strategic judgment
and an owner-oriented mindset, and Julie is a perfect fit with regard to
each of these characteristics."
"I have tremendous respect for the expertise and knowledge the Ironwood
team has built around gastrointestinal disorders - they are in an
excellent position to leverage this strength and become the kind of
enduring healthcare company that addresses a variety of patient needs,"
said Ms. McHugh. "I look forward to advising the company not only on how
to achieve this, but how to do it in the most operationally effective
manner possible in order to optimize shareholder value."
Ms. McHugh recently served as chief operating officer for Endo Health
Solutions, Inc., where she spent three years leading execution of a
patient-focused growth strategy and was responsible for the specialty
pharmaceutical and generic drug businesses. Prior to joining Endo, Ms.
McHugh was the chief executive officer of Nora Therapeutics, Inc., a
venture capital backed biotech start-up company focused on developing
novel therapies for the treatment of infertility disorders. Before that
she served as company group chairman for Johnson & Johnson's worldwide
virology business unit, and previously she was president of Centocor,
Inc., a J&J subsidiary. While at J&J, Ms. McHugh oversaw the development
and launches of several products, including Remicade® (infliximab),
Prezista® (darunavir) and Intelence® (etravirine). Prior to joining
Centocor, Ms. McHugh led the marketing communications for
gastrointestinal drug Prilosec® (omeprazole) at Astra-Merck Inc. She
currently serves on the board of visitors for the Smeal College of
Business of the Pennsylvania State University as well as on the board of
directors for The New Xellia Group, a privately held company, and she
previously served on the board of directors for ViroPharma Inc., the
Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the Pennsylvania
Biotechnology Association and the New England Healthcare Institute
(NEHI). Ms. McHugh received her masters of business administration
degree from St. Joseph's University and her Bachelor of Science degree
from Pennsylvania State University.
About Ironwood Pharmaceuticals
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: IRWD) is focused on creating medicines
that make a difference for patients, building value to earn the
continued support of our fellow shareholders, and empowering our team to
passionately pursue excellence. We discovered, developed and are
commercializing linaclotide, which is approved in the United States and
Europe. Our pipeline priorities include exploring further opportunities
for linaclotide, as well as leveraging our therapeutic expertise in
gastrointestinal disorders and our pharmacologic expertise in guanylate
cyclases to address patient needs across the upper and lower
gastrointestinal tract. Ironwood was founded in 1998 and is
headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. Connect with us at www.ironwoodpharma.com
or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ironwoodpharma;
information that may be important to investors will be routinely posted
in both these locations.
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Media Relations
Trista
Morrison, 617-374-5095
Associate Director, Corporate Communications
[email protected]
or
Investor
Relations
Meredith Kaya, 617-374-5082
Director, Investor
Relations
[email protected]
Source: Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
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