UroGenesys Names Aya Jakobovits, Ph.D. as Senior Vice President, Technology and Corporate Development Santa Monica, Calif., May 7, 2001 - UroGenesys, Inc. announced today that Aya Jakobovits, Ph.D. has been named Senior Vice President, Technology and Corporate Development. She will also continue to serve as Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Jakobovits joined UroGenesys in January, 1999, as Vice President of Research and Chief Scientific Officer. "We are most pleased to recognize Dr. Jakobovits' outstanding contributions to the development of UroGenesys by this promotion and increased responsibilities," said Donald B. Rice, President and CEO of UroGenesys. "She has grown our in-house R&D capabilities, strengthened our patent estate, and expanded our business development opportunities, while managing our scientific programs. In her new role she will provide even broader leadership of the Company's affairs as we build for the future." Dr. Jakobovits previously served as Director of Discovery Research and Principal Scientist at Abgenix, Inc. from its founding in 1996. At Abgenix, she led the development of the XenoMouse™ technology and its utilization for production of therapeutic fully human monoclonal antibodies. Prior to Abgenix, Dr. Jakobovits was a scientist founder at Cell Genesys, Inc. where she served in a number of positions from 1989-1996, most recently as Director of Molecular Immunology Dr. Jakobovits holds a Ph.D. in Life Sciences from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and did post doctoral scientific work at the University of California, San Francisco and at Genentech, Inc. UroGenesys, Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company engaged in the development of innovative products for the treatment and diagnosis of cancers based on its proprietary genomics discoveries, with an initial focus on urological cancers. UroGenesys, which began operations in mid-1997, has generated a large and diverse portfolio of proprietary antigen targets in cancer with potential for product development in antibody, small molecule, vaccine and other therapeutic approaches. In July 2000, the Company signed a licensing agreement with Genentech to develop antibody-based therapeutics for cancer using Prostate Stem Cell Antigen (PSCA) as a target antigen. The Company's laboratories and offices are located in Santa Monica, CA. For more information see www.urogenesys.com. Contacts Donald Rice President and CEO drice@urogenesys.com Aya Jakobovits, Ph.D. Vice President of Research; Chief Scientific Officer ajakobovits@urogenesys.com << Back to Press Releases