Targacept Names John Richard Chairman - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Targacept Inc. (TRGT) announced that John Richard, a Targacept non-executive director since November 2002, has been appointed as the company's Chairman of the Board effective January 1, 2014. Richard will continue to serve on the Company's audit and compensation committees.

Richard has significant corporate, operational and transactional life sciences experience, having served in various executive, director and advisory roles throughout his career. He currently is a partner and director of two life science focused investment firms, Phase4 Partners and Georgia Venture Partners.

In addition, John is a board member of Biota Pharmaceuticals (BOTA) and Zosano Pharma and serves as an advisor to Albireo AB and Nabriva Therapeutics AG. Earlier in his career, he was Executive Vice President, Business Development at SEQUUS Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he was responsible for negotiating the acquisition of SEQUUS by ALZA Corporation.

Prior to joining SEQUUS, John headed business development for VIVUS, Inc. and Genome Therapeutics Corporation, where he was responsible for establishing numerous pharmaceutical alliances. He was also the CEO and co-founder of Impath Inc., which became part of Genzyme.