InterMune Names Jonathan A. Leff, M.D., As Executive Vice President Of Research And Development

BRISBANE, Calif., Feb. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- InterMune, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITMN) today announced that Jonathan A. Leff, M.D., has been appointed InterMune's Executive Vice President of Research and Development, effective February 27, 2012.   In the newly created position, Dr. Leff will be responsible for the leadership and oversight of all groups within the company's Research and Development organization, including research, development, regulatory and medical support of the commercialization of the company's products.  He will additionally work to expand InterMune's product portfolio through support of the business development function of the company.

Dan Welch, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of InterMune, said, "As we begin to execute our plans to achieve InterMune's Vision 2015 Strategic Plan, now is the appropriate time to bring additional talent to our senior leadership team to better coordinate and lead the growing size, scale and complexity of our scientific endeavors. 

"With board certifications in Pulmonology, Critical Care and Internal Medicine, Dr. Leff's experience is ideal for InterMune's strategic focus on pulmonary and orphan fibrotic diseases. He brings strong academic and clinical credentials, having practiced pulmonary medicine as Director of the Outpatient Pulmonary Clinic at the University of Colorado, one of the nation's leading pulmonary medicine centers.  He has worked at Roche, Merck and Amgen, where he gained successful experience in all phases of the R&D value chain.  His early-stage R&D experience includes membership on the Leadership Team of the inflammation disease area at Roche, which covered the therapy area from research to proof-of-concept clinical studies.       

"Additionally, Dr. Leff has played meaningful roles in a number of successful Phase 1 to Phase 4 clinical development programs, and has played important roles in successful interactions with regulatory authorities, including NDA submissions, FDA advisory panels, registrations or line extensions of specialty medicines including MabThera®/Rituxan®, Singulair®, Actemra® and Enbrel®.  He also has served as Chief Medical Officer at two biotech companies.  We are delighted to welcome Dr. Leff to InterMune and we look forward to his contributions to the advancement of our scientific and business endeavors."