SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Cerimon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that James S. Shannon, M.D., has been appointed to the Company's Board of Directors. Dr. Shannon is a recognized pharmaceutical industry leader with more than 20 years of experience in senior development positions, most recently serving as Head of Global Development at Novartis Pharma AG in Basel, Switzerland.

"We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Shannon to our Board of Directors," stated Paul J. Sekhri, Chief Executive Officer of Cerimon Pharmaceuticals. "Dr. Shannon's expertise in identifying and advancing drug development candidates will be of great value as we seek to expand and deepen Cerimon's clinical-stage pipeline."

Dr. Shannon began his career in the pharmaceutical industry at Sterling Winthrop, where he attained the position of Senior Vice President, Clinical Development. Dr. Shannon headed Global Clinical Development during Sterling's alliance with Sanofi to develop Clopidogrel (Plavix(R)). Following this, Dr. Shannon joined Sandoz in Switzerland as Head of Drug Registration and Regulatory Affairs. He spearheaded the integration of R&D programs during Sandoz' merger with Ciba-Geigy, creating the renowned Novartis pipeline. Subsequently, Dr. Shannon held senior development positions at Novartis, ultimately being named Head of Global Development. Under Dr. Shannon's leadership, numerous drugs were developed and approved, including Diovan(R), Tekturna(R), Gleevec(R), Femara(R), Zometa(R), Reclast(R), Lucentis(R) (ex-US), Starlix(R), Visudyne(R) and Xolair(R).

Dr. Shannon received his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from Queen's University of Belfast, where he was trained in medicine and cardiology. He also became a Member of the Royal College of Physicians (UK).

About Cerimon Pharmaceuticals

Cerimon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and commercializing therapeutic products for pain and inflammation. The Company's lead product, its topical diclofenac patch, recently reported positive Phase II results and plans to initiate the patch Phase III development program in 1Q 2009. Cerimon is financed by the premier investors, MPM, Normura Phase4 and OrbiMed Advisors.

For more information on Cerimon, please visit the Company's website at http://www.cerimon.com.

SOURCE Cerimon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.