Somnusthera.com

News Release
Somnus Therapeutics, Inc. Announces CEO and
Formation of Executive Development Team
New Company Developing a Controlled-Release Sleep Therapeutic Bedminster, NJ (May 22, 2008): Somnus Therapeutics, Inc., a private specialty pharmaceutical
company that is developing a controlled-release sleep-maintenance therapeutic drug, today
announced the formation of its executive development team, based in Bedminster, New Jersey.
“I’m excited to be leading this team of experienced professionals, all of us working hands on to develop a much-needed improved sleep therapeutic,” said Gary Cupit, chief executive officer of Somnus. “We see significant opportunity in the multi-billion dollar insomnia market for a new treatment with superior patient satisfaction and return-on-investment features. Therefore, our business model is to leverage a small but deeply experienced executive group with technical advances in formulation, controlled-release and clinical testing to develop a product addressing an underserved but large market segment relatively quickly and less expensively.” CEO and Director Gary Cupit, PharmD, has more than 20 years of pharmaceutical industry
experience, including several product launches (e.g., Tagamet®, Androderm® and Hycamtin®). He
was most recently President of Enzo Therapeutics, Inc, and before that, President and CEO of
specialty pharmaceutical company Sapphire Therapeutics, Inc. Prior positions include global
business development, licensing sales, product management and new product development at large
and mid-size pharmaceutical companies including Novartis, SmithKline Beecham, Knoll and The
Medicines Company.
Mary Osbakken, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer, has 35 years of pharmaceutical industry
(15 years) and academic (20 years) experience, most recently as CMO, Inotek Pharmaceuticals
Corporation. Prior positions include vice president of global business development and other roles
at Aventis Pharmaceuticals, and outcomes research at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.
Christine Blumhardt, PharmD, Chief Regulatory Officer, has 20 years of experience in the
pharmaceutical industry, most recently as vice president of regulatory affairs/quality assurance at
Peptimmune, Inc. Prior positions include senior regulatory affairs and clinical research positions at
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline, SmithKline Beecham, and Beecham Laboratories.
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Linda Hogan, MS, MBA, Chief Business Officer and Director, has more than 20 years
experience in pharmaceutical management and consulting. In addition to CBO of Somnus, she is an
executive in residence at Care Capital. Previously, she was vice president, business development,
Clearview Projects, Inc. Prior positions include vice president and US group head for global
business development at Aventis.
Anne McCormick, MSW, Director, Clinical Project Management, has more than 15 years of
experience in clinical operations, regulatory compliance and project management in pharmaceutical,
clinical research organization (CRO) and academic environments. Before joining Somnus, she was
an associate director for clinical operations and project management in neuroscience at Novartis
Pharmaceuticals. Earlier, she held senior management positions at Pfizer (led global Lipitor®clinical
trial teams), Warner Lambert, Target Research Associates, Bristol-Myers Squibb and the University
of California, Los Angeles.
About Somnus Therapeutics
Somnus was founded in the summer of 2007 by Gary Cupit with Care Capital, a life sciences venture
capital firm based in Princeton, New Jersey.
In June 2007, Somnus entered into an exclusive agreement with SkyePharma for the worldwide development and commercialization of its sleep therapeutic, SKP-1041. Under the agreement, SkyePharma will formulate and manufacture SKP-1041, a new controlled-release formulation of a non-benzodiazepine hypnotic agent using SkyePharma's Geoclock™ technology. For more information, including more detailed biographies of the executive team, please visit the new Somnus web site at Gary C. Cupit CEO, Somnus Therapeutics, Inc. (908) 901-0300 Ellen M Martin Kureczka/Martin Associates (510) 832-2044 Page 2 of 2

Source: http://www.somnusthera.com/may222008.pdf