Saegis Pharmaceuticals Names Robert Gerlai Vice President of Research.

Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers

HALF MOON BAY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 9, 2002

Saegis Pharmaceuticals Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on developing medicines for the problems of memory and cognition associated with aging, today announced that Robert T. Gerlai, Ph.D., has joined the company as vice president of research.

"We are very pleased to have an internationally recognized expert in the area of memory and cognition like Robert Gerlai join our team," said Rodney Pearlman, Ph.D., president and CEO of Saegis Pharmaceuticals.

"His background at Genentech and his experience at Lilly, a strong player in the CNS arena, will be especially important as we work to build a leadership position for Saegis Pharmaceuticals in the development of new classes of medicines to protect and enhance the function of the human mind."

In both academic and industry settings, Dr. Gerlai's research has focused on the genetic and biological mechanisms of behavioral and neural plasticity, including memory and learning. Prior to joining Saegis Pharmaceuticals, he established a cognitive behavioral group at Eli Lilly and Co. and made numerous discoveries leading to clinical trials or patent applications. Gerlai joined Lilly from Genentech, where he was responsible for directing a preclinical animal behavior testing core and was group leader on the functional analysis of EphA receptor tyrosine kinases.

He has held research and academic appointments at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, the Department of Psychology of the University of Toronto and in the Department of Behavior Genetics of Eotvos University, Budapest, Hungary. Gerlai holds a master of science degree from the Eotvos University and a Ph.D. from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Gerlai has published over 100 papers in refereed scientific journals and books and he is a member of the editorial board of Cognitive Processing, serves as reviewing editor of Genes Brain and Behavior, and has served as a scientific referee for more than 30 other scientific journals.

He is a permanent member of the reviewing panel BBBP-1 of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and has been an ad hoc referee for grant applications submitted to NIH, NIDA, NSF and the Wellcome Trust of U.K. He is a founding member of the International Behavioral and Neural Genetics Society, IBANGS, among other distinguished posts at prominent scientific organizations.

"In addition to its promising Phase II clinical trials, Saegis Pharmaceuticals is developing a discovery platform that will allow the company to identify novel molecular targets for drug development in the area of age dependent memory dysfunction and mild cognitive impairment," said Dr. Gerlai. "These are particularly promising times for the company and I'm very excited to lead the research effort to discover new therapies that improve learning and memory."

Founded in 1999, Saegis Pharmaceuticals (pronounced say-jis), formerly David Pharmaceuticals, is a pioneer in the clinical development of new medications for protecting and enhancing memory and mental function. Through licensing activity and development partnerships, Saegis Pharmaceuticals is building a portfolio of compounds with activity against a range of disorders of the brain and central nervous system. For more information, visit www.saegispharma.com.