Versartis Appoints Colin Hislop, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer

MENLO PARK, Calif., March 30, 2016 -- Versartis, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAR), an endocrine-focused biopharmaceutical company that is developing somavaratan (VRS-317), a novel, long-acting form of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) for growth hormone deficiency (GHD), today announced that it has appointed Colin Hislop, M.D. as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Hislop is an experienced drug development clinician with over 27 years of experience in both pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

Jay Shepard, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are very pleased to have Colin join the Versartis management team. He brings unique development leadership and strategic insight to the organization. His deep clinical experience throughout the product development process, especially in the support of regulatory strategies and initial marketing approvals, will make him a valuable addition to our team. I look forward to working with Colin to further advance our global somavaratan pediatric and adult GHD clinical programs.”

“It is a great privilege to be joining Versartis at such an exciting time. I am exceedingly impressed with the progress that has been made with the company’s lead clinical program somavaratan, which has the potential to serve a critically important unmet need for patients with GHD. I look forward to joining Jay and his accomplished leadership team as we work toward bringing somavaratan to market for pediatric and adult GHD patients,” said Colin Hislop, M.D.

Dr. Hislop has broad therapeutic area experience, including in endocrine disease. He was most recently at Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he was a founding member of the management team and served as the Company’s Chief Medical Officer. Before joining Anthera, Dr. Hislop was Vice President, Clinical Development for Peninsula Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and prior to that Vice President, Clinical Development for CV Therapeutics, Inc. He began his industry career with Eli Lilly & Company as a Medical Director for the endocrine portfolio in the UK before moving to Procter & Gamble Co. to lead the initial risedronate (Actonel™) development program. Dr. Hislop is a graduate of the Middlesex Hospital Medical School, University of London.

Over the course of his career, Dr. Hislop has helped secure over $300 million in private and public equity financing, and has supported the in-licensing of compounds for development as well out-licensing and partnership opportunities. He has been involved in numerous regulatory interactions for drugs spanning from pre-IND to advisory committee meetings for approval. Among those drugs with approvals are Actonel^TM, which went on to realize $1.0 billion in global sales, and Ranexa^TM, which was one of the key drivers behind Gilead’s purchase of CV Therapeutics for $1.4 billion in 2009.

About Versartis, Inc.
Versartis, Inc. is an endocrine-focused biopharmaceutical company initially developing somavaratan (VRS-317), a novel, long-acting form of recombinant human growth hormone in late-stage clinical trials for the treatment of growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in children and adults. Somavaratan is intended to reduce the burden of daily injection therapy by requiring significantly fewer injections, potentially improving compliance and, therefore, treatment outcomes. Versartis' clinical trials can be found at www.versartistrials.com. For more information on Versartis, visit www.versartis.com.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our intentions or current expectations concerning, among other things, plans and timing of our clinical trials and the potential for eventual regulatory approval of somavaratan. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those anticipated. We discuss many of these risks in greater detail under the heading "Risk Factors" contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and our actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Any forward-looking statements that we make in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. We assume no obligation to update our forward-looking statements after the date of this press release. 

Contacts:

Corporate & Investors:
Joshua Brumm
Chief Financial Officer
(650) 963-8582
[email protected]

Corporate Communications: 
Christine Labaree
Evergreen Communications
(650) 600-1697
[email protected]

Investors:
Nick Laudico/David Burke
The Ruth Group
(646) 536-7030/7009
[email protected]
[email protected]