FibroGen Appoints Sarah A. O'Dowd, Vice President & General
Counsel
South San Francisco, CA - February 13, 2007 - FibroGen, Inc.
today announced the appointment of Sarah A. O'Dowd as Vice President &
General Counsel. Ms. O'Dowd brings to FibroGen more than twenty-five
years of experience with Heller Ehrman LLP, a leading U.S.-based law
firm, where she was a shareholder of the firm and a member of its senior
management. She joins FibroGen's senior management team, and will also
direct the company's worldwide legal affairs.
At Heller Ehrman, Ms. O'Dowd specialized in finance, securities and
corporate governance. In addition to serving as principal outside counsel
to a variety of prominent Silicon Valley companies, she held a number
of management and leadership positions at the firm. Most recently
she chaired Heller Ehrman's corporate governance practice. Over the
past 15 years, she held a number of other positions including head of
the firm's corporate practice and member of the firm's three-person
Executive Committee. She also had roles as managing shareholder for the
Silicon Valley and San Diego offices of Heller Ehrman. She served on the
firm's Policy Committee for over a decade. She has extensive experience
with financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures,
strategic arrangements and Sarbanes-Oxley.
"Sarah joins FibroGen at a critical time as we continue to grow our
organization and advance products through clinical development and
toward commercialization," said Thomas B. Neff, Chief Executive Officer
of FibroGen. "Her expertise and counsel will be particularly valuable
as we continue to expand our role as a leading provider of therapeutics
answering unmet medical needs."
Ms. O'Dowd holds a J.D. from Stanford Law School, an M.A. in
Communications from Stanford University, and graduated summa cum laude
with an A.B. in mathematics from Immaculata College. She is a member of
the State Bar of California.
About FibroGen
FibroGen, Inc. is a biotechnology-based drug discovery company using
its expertise in the fields of tissue fibrosis, connective tissue growth
factor (CTGF), and hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) biology to discover,
develop, and commercialize novel therapeutics for fibrotic disorders,
diabetic complications, anemia, conditions associated with tissue damage
or injury, cancer, and other areas of unmet medical need. FibroGen also
develops and produces recombinant human collagens and gelatins using
unique production technology that provides the basis for FibroGen's
proprietary cosmetic dermal filler and biomaterials supply business.
For more information about FibroGen, Inc., please visit
www.fibrogen.com.
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Contact:
Laura Hansen 650-866-7828 or lhansen@fibrogen.com