XOMA Appoints Timothy P. Walbert To Its Board Of Directors

BERKELEY, Calif., Nov. 15, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- XOMA Ltd. (Nasdaq:XOMA), a leader in the discovery and development of antibody therapeutics, announced that Timothy P. Walbert has been elected to XOMA's Board of Directors. Mr. Walbert is a seasoned executive with extensive experience launching therapeutic products including Abbott's highly successful multi-indication biologic drug, HUMIRA®, and building and leading commercial organizations in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry.

"Tim brings to XOMA's Board broad commercial experience, including the creation and management of Abbott's global biologics-based immunology franchise which grew from inception to more than $1.7 billion in sales during his tenure and to more than $5 billion in 2009," said Steve B. Engle, XOMA's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Tim's passion for transitioning companies from focusing on R&D to executing strong commercialization strategies will be a valuable asset to XOMA as we push forward with XOMA 052 and our other development programs."

Mr. Walbert is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Horizon Pharma, a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative medicines for unmet therapeutic needs in arthritis, pain and inflammatory diseases. Horizon has raised private equity of over $100 million and has an upcoming FDA action date in January for its lead product candidate HZT-501 for treatment of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and pain. While at Horizon, Mr. Walbert recently orchestrated the strategic acquisition of Nitec Pharma AG, broadening Horizon's product portfolio.

From 2007 until 2009, Mr. Walbert was President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of IDM Pharma, Inc., a publicly traded oncology-focused biotechnology company. During his tenure, he drove the process of achieving European regulatory approval for MEPACT™ for the treatment of osteosarcoma, reorganized the company and its management team, and led the successful acquisition of IDM by Takeda America. Prior to IDM, he was Executive Vice President of Commercial Operations for NeoPharm, Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, where he oversaw global marketing, sales, reimbursement and business development.