Zafgen added Tom Daniel to its Board of Directors

– USA, MA – Zafgen, Inc. (Nasdaq:ZFGN), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to significantly improving the health and well-being of patients affected by obesity and complex metabolic disorders, today announced that Thomas O. Daniel, M.D. has been appointed to the Company’s Board of Directors, effective March 3, 2016. Dr. Daniel currently serves as Chairman of Celgene Research and was most recently President of Research and Early Development at Celgene Corporation, and has more than 16 years of experience in biopharmaceutical discovery and development. During his tenure at Celgene, Dr. Daniel has overseen the development and registration of REVLIMID and POMALYST, two innovative therapies for the treatment of hematological malignancies, and has led the expansion of Celgene’s research and development organization.

“Tom brings a wealth of relevant experience to Zafgen’s Board of Directors at this critical time in Zafgen’s evolution,” said Thomas Hughes, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Zafgen. “His insights and expertise in drug development will be invaluable as we navigate the path forward for beloranib in the treatment of Prader-Willi syndrome, a very rare genetic disorder with no effective treatments, and as we work to advance our pipeline of other MetAP2 inhibitors.”

“New treatment options for Prader-Willi syndrome and complex metabolic diseases such as severe obesity are sorely needed. Zafgen’s unique platform of product candidates provides a novel approach with potential for meaningful therapeutic impact,” said Dr. Daniel. “I look forward to working with the Zafgen leadership team and board to advance beloranib in Prader-Willi syndrome, and to position development of earlier-stage compounds.”

Prior to joining Celgene, Dr. Daniel served as Chief Scientific Officer and Director of AmbRx Inc., and as Vice President, Research at Amgen Inc. Prior to Amgen’s acquisition of Immunex, Dr. Daniel was Senior Vice President of Discovery Research at Immunex. He currently is a director of Juno Therapeutics. Dr. Daniel serves as a member of the Biomedical Science Advisory Board of Vanderbilt University Medical Center and is a member of the Therapeutic Advisory Board of aTyr Pharma, Inc. He also serves as co-chairman of the Biomedical Advisory Committee of PhRMA. Dr. Daniel, a nephrologist and former academic investigator, was previously the Hakim Professor of Medicine and Cell Biology at Vanderbilt University, and Director of the Vanderbilt Center for Vascular Biology. He conducted research supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at UC San Francisco. He earned his M.D. from the University of Texas, Southwestern, and completed medical residency at Massachusetts General Hospital.

About Zafgen

Zafgen (Nasdaq:ZFGN) is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to significantly improving the health and well-being of patients affected by obesity and complex metabolic disorders. Zafgen is focused on developing novel therapeutics that treat the underlying biological mechanisms through the MetAP2 pathway. Beloranib, Zafgen’s lead product candidate, is a novel, first-in-class, twice-weekly subcutaneous injection being developed for the treatment of multiple indications, including severe obesity in two rare diseases, Prader-Willi syndrome and obesity caused by hypothalamic injury, including craniopharyngioma-associated obesity; and severe obesity in the general population. Zafgen is also developing ZGN-839, a liver-targeted MetAP2 inhibitor, for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, and abdominal obesity, as well as second-generation MetAP2 inhibitors.

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Talent4Boards Team

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