Lexicon Pharmaceuticals LXRX

Michael S. Exton, Ph.D. has been a director since July 2024 and served for fourteen years in a series of senior leadership positions at Novartis, most recently as cardiometabolism therapeutic head from August 2022 to June 2024. In such role, Dr. Exton led the global cross functional commercial therapeutic areas of cardiovascular and metabolic disease, with key responsibilities in discovery, development, commercial launch preparation, business development, investor relations and media engagement. Dr. Exton's previous positions with Novartis included vice president and global head, cardiovascular renal and metabolism franchise from November 2021 to August 2022 and vice president and head, cardiovascular renal and metabolism franchise of Novartis USA from January 2018 to August 2022. Prior to joining Novartis, Dr. Exton was director of business development with Invida Pty Ltd and spent nine years with Eli Lilly Australia, where he held a variety of research, business development and commercial positions. Dr. Exton holds a B.Sc. and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Newcastle and a Ph.D. in immunology from the University of Essen, Germany.

Craig B. Granowitz, M.D., Ph.D. has been our senior vice president and chief medical officer since August 2021. Dr. Granowitz previously served as chief medical officer of Amarin Corporation plc since 2016. Prior to joining Amarin, Dr. Granowitz served as senior vice president and head of global medical affairs, global human health of Merck & Co., Inc. and in a variety of medical and commercial management positions for Schering-Plough Corporation. Dr. Granowitz received his B.A. from Dartmouth College and his M.D. and Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Effective as of January 2, 2025, Scott M. Coiante was appointed as our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, in which capacity he will function as our Principal Financial Officer. Mr. Coiante served for ten years in senior leadership positions at Agile Therapeutics, Inc., most recently as senior vice president, chief financial officer from 2011 to 2019 and from August 2023 to August 2024. Mr. Coiante also served as senior vice president, chief financial officer at Aprea Therapeutics, Inc. from August 2019 to January 2023 and in a series of senior financial and accounting positions with Medarex, Inc. and Ernst & Young LLP prior to joining Agile Therapeutics. Mr. Coiante is a certified public accountant and received his B.S. from Villanova University.

Brian T. Crum has been our senior vice president and general counsel since October 2021 and previously served in a series of legal leadership positions since joining our company in 2001. Mr. Crum was previously a corporate securities attorney with the law firms of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP and Andrews & Kurth L.L.P., where he represented companies in the energy and information technology industries. Mr. Crum received his B.B.A. and J.D. from the University of Texas.

Wendy E. McDermott has been our senior vice president, human resources since August 2024 and previously served as our vice president, human resources since January 2022. Ms. McDermott previously served as chief people officer of Rafael Pharmaceuticals, Inc. since 2019, vice president, human resources of Sanofi from 2017 to 2019 and in a variety of human resources positions with Sanofi, Schering-Plough Corporation and other companies in the tobacco, media and talent and event management industries. Ms. McDermott received her B.A. from State University of New York at Plattsburgh.

Raymond Debbane has been a director since August 2007 and became chairman of our board of directors in February 2012. Mr. Debbane is president and chief executive officer of The Invus Group, LLC, which he founded in New York in 1985 as the exclusive investment advisor of Benelux-based Artal Group S.A. Mr. Debbane serves as chairman or director of a number of private companies in which Invus or Artal Group S.A. have invested. He previously served as a director of WW, Inc. from 1999 until May 2023 and of Blue Buffalo Pet Products, Inc. from 2007 until April 2018 when Blue Buffalo was acquired by General Mills, Inc. Before founding The Invus Group, Mr. Debbane was a manager in the Paris office of The Boston Consulting Group, Inc., where he did consulting work for a number of major European and international companies. Mr. Debbane holds an M.B.A. from Stanford University, an M.S. in food science and technology from the University of California at Davis, and a B.S in agricultural sciences and agricultural engineering from American University of Beirut.

Samuel L. Barker, Ph.D. has been a director since March 2000 and served as chairman of our board of directors from 2005 to 2012. Dr. Barker previously co-founded and served as president and chief executive officer of Clearview Projects, Inc., a provider of partnering and transaction services to biopharmaceutical companies. Dr. Barker served in a series of leadership positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company until his retirement in 1999. His positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb included service as executive vice president, Worldwide Franchise Management and Strategy; president, United States Pharmaceuticals; and president, Bristol-Myers Squibb Intercontinental Commercial Operations. Dr. Barker also previously held executive positions in research and development, manufacturing, finance, business development and sales and marketing at Squibb Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Barker currently serves as a director of Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Barker received his B.S. from Henderson State College, his M.S. from the University of Arkansas and his Ph.D. from Purdue University.

Philippe J. Amouyal has been a director since August 2007 and is a managing director of The Invus Group, LLC, a position he has held since 1999. Previously, Mr. Amouyal was a vice president and director of The Boston Consulting Group, Inc. in Boston, Massachusetts, where he coordinated the global technology and electronics practice through most of the 1990s. Mr. Amouyal also serves as director of CAVA Group, Inc. and at a number of private companies in which Invus or Artal Group S.A. have invested. He previously served as a director of WW, Inc. from 2002 until February 2019 and of Blue Buffalo Pet Products, Inc. from 2007 until April 2018 when Blue Buffalo was acquired by General Mills, Inc. Mr. Amouyal holds an M.S. in engineering and a DEA in management from Ecole Centrale de Paris and was a research fellow at the Center for Policy Alternatives of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Judith L. Swain, M.D. has been a director since September 2007. Dr. Swain is chief medical officer of Physiowave, Inc. and was appointed a director of Wellcome Leap, a foundation supported by Wellcome Trust, in 2024. She previously served as founding director of the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, dean for translational medicine at the University of California, San Diego, chair of the Department of Medicine at Stanford University, and on the medical faculties of the University of Pennsylvania and Duke University. She has previously served in a number of national and international leadership roles and as a director or member of the scientific advisory boards for a number of biomedical technology companies and is co-founder of Synecor, LLC. Dr. Swain served as a director of Prometheus Biosciences, Inc. from February 2021 until June 2023 when Prometheus was acquired by Merck & Co. Dr. Swain received her B.S. from the University of California, Los Angeles and her M.D. from the University of California, San Diego.

Ivan H. Cheung has been a director since December 2024, has been chief executive officer and a director of NextPoint Therapeutics since January 2024 and has served as senior advisor to TPG Growth since September 2023. Mr. Cheung previously served in a series of executive leadership positions at Eisai Co., Ltd., where he worked for 18 years, most recently as chairman and chief executive officer of Eisai Inc. from 2016 to July 2023 and strategic advisor from August to December 2023. Prior to joining Eisai, Mr. Cheung spent seven years with Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., where he held a variety of consulting positions. Mr. Cheung holds a B.S.E. from Duke University and an M.B.A. from Harvard University.

Diane E. Sullivan has been a director since July 2023 and founded her own consulting firm in May 2020, which specializes in strategy development and commercialization for life sciences companies. From May 2020 until August 2021, Ms. Sullivan served as the Chief Commercial Officer of DalCor Pharmaceuticals. From November 2018 to April 2020, Ms. Sullivan served as Chief Commercial Officer of The Medicines Company, until its acquisition by Novartis. Prior to her time at The Medicines Company, Ms. Sullivan was an independent commercialization and market access consultant from October 2017 to November 2018. Ms. Sullivan also previously held senior positions at AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Wyeth and GlaxoSmithKline in a variety of disciplines, including market access, strategy, marketing, brand management, business development and integration. Ms. Sullivan served as a director of OrthogenRx, a privately held medical device company, from May 2018 until it was acquired by Avanos Medical in January 2022 and currently serves as a director of Amarin. Ms. Sullivan received a B.A. from Dickinson College.

Christopher J. Sobecki has been a director since August 2007 and is a managing director of The Invus Group, LLC, which he joined in 1989. Mr. Sobecki is currently a director of a number of private companies in which Invus or Artal Group S.A. have invested. He previously served as a director of WW, Inc. from 1999 until May 2023. He holds a B.S. in industrial engineering from Purdue University and an M.B.A. from Harvard University.

Lisa M. DeFrancesco has been our senior vice president, investor relations and corporate communications since February 2025 and previously served as our vice president, investor relations and corporate communications since November 2023. Ms. DeFrancesco previously served as senior vice president, investor relations and corporate affairs for Amarin Corporation plc from 2022 to August 2023. Prior to joining Amarin, Ms. DeFrancesco held various leadership roles in investor relations and corporate affairs at Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2019 to 2022 and at Melinta Therapeutics LLC, Allergan plc and other companies in the telecommunications, real estate and health insurance industries. Ms. DeFrancesco received her B.S. from Seton Hall University.

Rachel Y. Martens has been our senior vice president, partnerships and corporate strategy since February 2026 and previously served in a series of business development and corporate strategy leadership positions since joining our company in September 2024. Ms. Martens previously served as executive vice president, commercial solutions and corporate strategy for One Drop from 2019 to September 2024. Prior to joining One Drop, Ms. Martens held various commercialization leadership roles during nine years at Sanofi and served for four years as an investment banking analyst at BMO Capital Markets. Ms. Martens received her B.A. from Brown University and her M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.

Suma Gopinathan, M.S., Ph.D. has been our senior vice president, discovery since August 2025 and previously served in a series of scientific leadership positions since joining our company in 2002. Dr. Gopinathan has also served as a consultant to multiple biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies in various preclinical and clinical development areas, including pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and formulation development. Dr. Gopinathan received her B.Pharm. from Bangalore University, her M.Pharm. from Kakatiya University and her Ph.D. from the University of Houston.

Effective September 30, 2024, Kristen L. Alexander will assume the function of our principal financial officer. Kristen L. Alexander has been our vice president of finance and accounting and principal accounting officer since September 2021 and previously served as controller since joining our company in 2017. Ms. Alexander previously served as controller of Johnson Specialty Tools, LLC and in a variety of finance and accounting management positions for Trican Well Services, L.P., Nabors Industries Ltd. and Ernst & Young, LLP. Ms. Alexander is a certified public accountant and received her B.B.A. from the University of Oklahoma. Effective as of January 2, 2025, Kristen L. Alexander, our Vice President, Finance and Accounting, relinquished her function as our Principal Financial Officer. Ms. Alexander will continue her function as our Principal Accounting Officer.