Hyperion Therapeutics Announces Three New Addition

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., July 17, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hyperion Therapeutics (Nasdaq: HPTX ) announced today that the company has added three new executives to its leadership team: senior vice president, governmental affairs and chief legal officer, Ashley Gould, senior vice president, Corporate and Business Development, Natalie Holles and vice president, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications, Sylvia Wheeler.

"I am pleased with the varied breadth of related industry expertise each of these individuals brings to our business," said Donald J. Santel, Chief Executive Officer of Hyperion. "As we continue to mature as a company, their respective experience and skills will be instrumental in helping to guide our growth as a commercial enterprise seeking to deliver life-changing treatments to the patient and medical communities we serve."

Senior Vice President, Governmental Affairs and Chief Legal Officer; Ashley Gould

Ms. Gould will be responsible for serving as the company's in-house legal counsel and leading public and governmental affairs activities. Ms. Gould recently served as vice president, Corporate Development and chief legal officer at 23andMe, a personal genetics company. Prior to joining 23andMe in 2007, Ms Gould was vice president, Legal Affairs at CoTherix, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. Previously, Ms. Gould was associated with the law firms of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC and O'Melveny & Myers LLP. Ms. Gould received her JD from the University of San Francisco School of Law and her B.S. in Political Economy of Natural Resources from the University of California, Berkeley.

Senior Vice President, Corporate and Business Development; Natalie Holles

Ms. Holles will lead Hyperion's efforts to bring in new products to complement the existing portfolio and identify other ways to grow the company through external industry relationships. For the past five years, Ms. Holles has worked as an executive-level consultant leading business development activities for several life sciences companies. Most recently she served as executive vice president of Corporate Development for Immune Design, a leading cancer immunotherapy company based in Seattle. Ms. Holles also brings extensive in-house business development experience from KAI Pharmaceuticals, and InterMune, Inc. Ms. Holles began her career in the industry as a Marketing Planning Associate at Genentech, Inc. Ms. Holles received her M.A. in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology from the University of Colorado and her A.B. in Human Biology from Stanford University.

Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications; Sylvia Wheeler

Ms. Wheeler will lead Hyperion's strategic external communications initiatives with the investment and media communities. Ms. Wheeler joins the team from Affymax, Inc. a biopharmaceutical company where she most recently served as vice president, Corporate Communications. Prior to joining Affymax in 2007, Ms. Wheeler served as senior director, Corporate Communications for Depomed, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company. Ms. Wheeler has also served in similar functions at Cerus Corporation, a biomedical products company, Coulter Pharmaceuticals, Inc. a biotechnology company and at Russell Welsh, a communications agency focused exclusively on the bioscience industry. Ms. Wheeler earned her M.B.A from the University of San Francisco and a B.A. in Biology from San Francisco State University.  

About Hyperion Therapeutics

Hyperion Therapeutics, Inc. is a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company committed to developing and delivering life-changing treatments for orphan diseases and hepatology. The company's first commercial product, Ravicti® (glycerol phenylbutyrate) Oral Liquid, was approved in February 2013 and is currently being marketed in the United States. The company also owns and markets BUPHENYL® (sodium phenylbutyrate) Tablets and Powder worldwide. For more information, please visit www.hyperiontx.com .

Sylvia Wheeler, Investor Relations (650) 794-7834