Anesiva Announces Prospective Board Members To Be Appointed Upon Successful Completion Of Proposed Merger

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Nov. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Anesiva, Inc. (Nasdaq: ANSV) today announced that Dr. Ted W. Love and Dr. David C. U'Prichard have agreed to join the Anesiva board of directors following completion of the proposed merger between Anesiva and Arcion Therapeutics. Completion of the merger is subject to a shareholder vote scheduled to take place at the previously announced Anesiva 2009 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, to be held on December 3, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. PST at 400 Oyster Point, Suite 107A, South San Francisco, California, among other conditions.

"We are very pleased to be able to recruit directors of this caliber.  Their talents will be important as we make plans to move our new company forward after the merger," said Michael Kranda, president and chief executive officer of Anesiva.

"Maintaining governance requirements and a qualified NASDAQ listing is a high priority for the merged companies and these gentlemen will bring excellent experience to our board," said Dr. Arnold Oronsky, director of Anesiva and Arcion Therapeutics.

From 2001 to 2009, Dr. Love served as president, chief executive officer and director of Nuvelo, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, and as chairman of the company's board of directors from 2005 to 2009, prior to its merger with ARCA Biopharma, Inc. From 1998 to 2001, Dr. Love served as senior vice president of development at Theravance, Inc. (formerly Advanced Medicine, Inc.). From 1992 to 1998, Dr. Love served as a research physician and vice president of product development at Genentech, Inc. Dr. Love also serves as member of the board of directors of Santarus, ARCA and Affymax. Dr. Love holds an M.D. from Yale medical school and a B.A. from Haverford College.

Dr. U'Prichard currently serves as president of Druid Consulting LLC and as a venture partner at Red Abbey Venture Partners. Previously, he was chief executive officer of 3-Dimensional Pharmaceuticals (3DP) from 1999 to 2003. From 1997 to 1999, Dr. U'Prichard served as chairman of research and development at SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals. Prior to SmithKline Beecham, he worked for ICI/Zeneca from 1986 to 1997, as executive vice president and International Research Director from 1994 to 1997. He is currently a member of the board of directors of Life Technologies and Silence Therapeutics Plc, and chairman of Cyclacel, Inc. and Oxagen Ltd. Dr. U'Prichard received his Ph.D. from the University of Kansas and his B.Sc. from the University of Glasgow, Scotland.