CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 18, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:INFI), an innovative drug discovery and development company, today announced the promotion of Vito J. Palombella, Ph.D. to Chief Scientific Officer, with responsibility for Infinity's drug discovery and pre-clinical development activities and leadership over the company's strategic alliance with Mundipharma International and Purdue Pharmaceuticals. In this position, Dr. Palombella will continue reporting to Julian Adams, Ph.D., the company's President of Research and Development.
"It is a privilege to recognize Vito's extraordinary contributions to Infinity over the last six years, most notably his leadership in advancing our four internally discovered molecules into clinical development and nurturing a robust discovery pipeline that we believe will produce more innovative clinical candidates in the future," said Dr. Adams. "Not only is Vito an exceptional scientist, he is passionately committed to our company's mission, mentorship of our talented team of Citizen-Owners, and the advancement of our alliance with Mundipharma and Purdue. I look forward to many more years of working together with Vito at Infinity."
Dr. Palombella has substantial experience in the fields of cell and molecular biology and immunology. He joined Infinity in 2004 as Vice President, Biology and became Vice President, Drug Discovery in 2006. Prior to Infinity, Dr. Palombella served in leadership positions at several biopharmaceutical companies, including Syntonix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (now part of Biogen Idec Inc.), Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and ProScript, Inc., where he was involved in the discovery of Velcade® (bortezomib) and led numerous research projects in the fields of cancer biology and immunology.
Dr. Palombella received a B.S. in Microbiology from Rutgers University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Viral Oncology and Immunology from the New York University Medical Center. He was also a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University in the laboratory of Dr. Tom Maniatis.
About Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Infinity is an innovative drug discovery and development company seeking to discover, develop and deliver to patients best-in-class medicines for difficult to treat diseases. Infinity combines proven scientific expertise with a passion for developing novel small molecule drugs that target emerging disease pathways. Infinity's programs in the inhibition of the Hsp90 chaperone system, the Hedgehog pathway and fatty acid amide hydrolase are evidence of its innovative approach to drug discovery and development. For more information on Infinity, please refer to the company's website at http://www.infi.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the advancement of Infinity's discovery portfolio. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to numerous factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from the company's current expectations. For example, there can be no guarantee that Infinity's strategic alliance with Purdue and Mundipharma will continue for its expected term or that they will fund Infinity's programs as agreed, that any product candidate Infinity is developing will successfully complete necessary preclinical and clinical development phases, or that development of any of Infinity's product candidates will continue. Further, there can be no guarantee that any positive developments in Infinity's product portfolio will result in stock price appreciation. Management's expectations could also be affected by the risks and uncertainties described under the caption "Risk Factors" included in Infinity's quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 6, 2010. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and Infinity expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.