Alvine Pharmaceuticals Appoints James D. Watson as Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer

SAN CARLOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alvine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the appointment of James D. Watson as Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer.

“I am confident that James will be a key contributor to the company’s success.”

“We are extremely pleased to have James join Alvine as an important addition to our management team. James brings a broad range of commercial operations, strategic planning, and business development experience to Alvine. His industry knowledge will be of great value in developing and executing our corporate strategy, while building on the clinical progress of our lead compound ALV003,” said Dr. Abhay Joshi, Alvine’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “I am confident that James will be a key contributor to the company’s success.”

Mr. Watson was most recently Managing Director and Head of Private Equity at Burrill & Company and previously, CEO of Burrill’s Merchant Banking Group. Before joining Burrill, he was Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Marketing with Incyte Corporation and General Manager at Chemdex. He also served as Head of the San Francisco office of The Wilkerson Group. He began his business career with Eli Lilly and Company holding a variety of sales, marketing and new product planning positions. He holds a BA in Economics from Portsmouth University in England and a Fulbright Scholarship and MBA from Indiana University.

“I am excited to join Alvine at this key stage in the company’s development. ALV003 has unique potential to provide a better therapeutic option for celiac patients, and to achieve compelling commercial success. I look forward to helping Alvine realize this potential,” said Mr. Watson.

About ALV003

ALV003 is an orally administered mixture of two recombinant proteases engineered to degrade gluten into non-immunogenic peptide fragments, by targeting the glutamine and proline residues that are common in gluten. ALV003 consists of a glutamine specific cysteine protease (EP-B2) and a proline specific prolyl endopeptidase (PEP). ALV003 is being developed by Alvine as a potential treatment for patients with celiac disease and is currently in Phase 2 clinical development.

About Celiac Disease

Celiac disease is the most common hereditary autoimmune disease with prevalence as high as 1-2% in the U.S. and E.U. Intestinal inflammation in celiac disease is triggered by the ingestion of gluten in genetically susceptible individuals. Gluten is a protein found naturally in wheat, rye, and barley, and is one of the most common and nutritionally significant ingredients in the human diet. Patients with celiac disease mount an immune response to gluten and gluten fragments, resulting in systemic immune mediated damage in the gut and other organs. Gluten ingestion can be associated with symptoms such as nausea, diarrhea, constipation and rash. Complications of celiac disease can include osteoporosis, anemia, dermatitis, weight loss, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, intestinal malignancies, peripheral and central nervous system conditions including depression. The only available option for individuals diagnosed with celiac disease today is a life-long adherence to a strict gluten-free diet, which is difficult to follow.

About Alvine

Alvine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a privately held biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and commercializing therapeutics for autoimmune/gastrointestinal diseases. Alvine’s lead product candidate, ALV003, is being developed as a potential treatment for patients with celiac disease. For additional information about the company, please visit www.alvinepharma.com.