John P. McLaughlin Appointed to Head Up PDL Spin-Off

PDL BioPharma, Inc. (PDL, Redwood City, CA) has appointed John P. McLaughlin to become president and chief executive officer (CEO) following the company’s planned spin-off of its biotechnology assets. Following the spin-off, McLaughlin will lead the remaining royalty company, which will continue to operate under the PDL BioPharma name. Effective immediately, the board has appointed McLaughlin to be a special advisor to the company. Currently, McLaughlin serves as a director of Seattle Genetics, Inc. and co-founded and serves as a director of Peak Surgical, Inc. From 2000 to 2008, McLaughlin served as the CEO and a director of Anesiva, Inc. He held a number of senior management positions at Genentech Inc. from 1987 to 1997, including executive vice president and general counsel.

Following PDL’s separation of its biotechnology and royalty operations, Faheem Hasnain will become a director and the president and CEO of Facet Biotech Corporation, the biotechnology operations spin-off company. Hasnain brings more than 20 years of biopharmaceutical leadership experience and joins PDL from Biogen Idec Inc., where he most recently served as executive vice president of its Oncology/Rheumatology Strategic Business Unit. Hasnain is currently serving as president and CEO of PDL BioPharma.