Orphagen Pharmaceuticals announced today that Robin Jackman, CEO of Leading BioSciences, has been appointed to the Board of Directors.

“Robin brings crucial experience to our Board in finance and fund-raising. This comes on top of his excellent record in guiding two biotechnology companies of similar size to Orphagen,” said Scott Thacher, Founder and CEO of Orphagen. “I look forward to working with him.”

Dr. Jackman is a 20-year, biopharmaceutical industry veteran. Leading BioSciences is a clinical-stage, platform pharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies and diagnostics to treat and halt multi-organ failure resulting from shock. Its pipeline includes a drug to treat gastrointestinal (GI) breakdown resulting from three common forms of shock: cardiogenic shock following heart surgery, septic shock, and hemorrhagic/hypovolemic shock.

Prior to joining Leading BioSciences, Dr. Jackman was President and CEO of Zacharon Pharmaceuticals where he successfully led the startup from financing through new orphan drug program development, multiple new partnerships, and on to a sale of the company to BioMarin Pharmaceuticals in 2013. Previously Dr. Jackman was Senior Vice President at Vical in the oncology division, where he was responsible for clinical trials. After earning a Ph.D. at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Jackman joined the life-science unit at BankAmerica Robertson Stephens as an investment banker.