San Francisco, Ca., USA - November 25, 2014, San Francisco, Ca., USA - Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage drug development company, announced James M. Gower is retiring from the board of directors and from his positions as chairman and CEO.
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Mr. Gower joined Rigel as president and chief executive officer in January 1997. He was named chairman of the board in October 2001. Under his guidance, Rigel grew from a small startup to a significant developer of small molecule therapeutics for a range of immune and metabolic disorders.
Mr. Gower is a widely respected and well known leader in the biotech community, having previously served as president and chief executive officer of Tularik, Inc. (later acquired by Amgen), and as senior vice president at Genentech Inc. prior to its merger with Roche.
Mr. Gower is expected to remain an employee until the end of the year and, thereafter will be a consultant to the company providing advice on strategy, business development and other matters.
Raul Rodriguez, most recently serving as the company's president and chief operating officer, will assume the position of chief executive officer and join the board of directors.
Mr. Rodriguez joined Rigel in April 2000 as vice president of business development. He was named executive vice president and chief operating officer in June 2004, and has been president and chief operating officer since May 2010. In addition to overseeing the day-to-day operations of Rigel, Mr. Rodriguez has been pivotal in developing relationships with biopharmaceutical industry leaders and observers, speaking on behalf of the company and the industry at major events.
Prior to joining Rigel, Mr. Rodriguez held senior management, business development and operations roles at Ontogeny, Inc. and Scios, Inc. He began his career at G.D. Searle & Company. He holds an A.B. from Harvard College, a Masters of Public Health from the University of Illinois, and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Gary Lyons, a member of Rigel's Board of Directors since 2005, will become chairman. ■