Metabasis Therapeutics Inc.

Barry Gumbiner, M.D. was appointed Vice President of Clinical Development and Chief Medical Officer in November 2008. Dr. Gumbiner joined Metabasis in 2006 as an Executive Director, Clinical Development after 6 years as an Associate Director and Director, Clinical Research, Metabolism at Merck and Co., Inc. Dr. Gumbiner received a B.A. degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, a medical degree from the University of Southern California School of Medicine, followed by residency in internal medicine at the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center. He completed his fellowship in endocrinology at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine after which he joined the faculty of the University of Rochester, School of Medicine and Dentistry as an Assistant Professor of Medicine. Subsequently, he joined the faculty at Indiana University School of Medicine as an Associate Professor of Medicine.

Tran B Nguyen, M.B.A., Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer, has been with Metabasis since March 2009. Mr. Nguyen has more than 10 years of global analytical finance experience through working on a variety of transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings and add-on equity, convertible and debt offerings. Prior to joining Metabasis, from May 2007 to January 2009, he was a part of the Healthcare Investment Banking group of Citigroup Global Markets Inc. as a Vice President, where he specialized in working with large-to-small capitalization biotechnology and specialty pharmaceutical companies. Prior to joining Citigroup Global Markets, Mr. Nguyen served as Vice President of the Healthcare Investment Banking group of Lehman Brothers Inc., from January 2006 to April 2007 and as an Associate from July 2004 to December 2005. Prior to joining Lehman Brothers, Mr. Nguyen held various analytical financial positions at private equity and investment banking companies including CP Group, Waterton Management LLC, Merrill Lynch & Co. and Merrill Lynch International. Mr. Nguyen holds an M.B.A. from The Anderson School of Management at UCLA, and a B.A. degree in economics and psychology from Claremont McKenna College.

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David Bullough, Ph.D. was promoted to Vice President of Pre-Clinical Development in September 2008 and has been with the company since its inception. Dr. Bullough is responsible for Pharmaceutical Development, Pre-Clinical Safety, DMPK & Bioanalytical and Quality Control and for leading all the development projects at Metabasis successfully into clinical development. Prior to joining Metabasis, Dr. Bullough was with Gensia since June 1988, where he managed Cardiovascular Pharmacology and led a number of major discovery and development projects. His research has led to more than 35 publications in quality, peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Bullough received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Cambridge in the UK and served for many years as a research faculty member at UCSD.

Molly A. Holman, Ph.D., J.D. has served as Vice President of Intellectual Property since August 2008 and has extensive scientific, legal and industry experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical fields. Dr. Holman manages Metabasis’ broad intellectual property portfolio covering its proprietary platform technologies and pipeline of product candidates on a worldwide basis. Additionally, she supports business development activities, provides legal support for transactions, negotiations, competitive analysis and due diligence, and manages other general corporate legal matters for the Company. Dr. Holman was formerly at Amylin Pharmaceuticals from 2001 to 2007, most recently as Executive Director of Intellectual Property. While at Amylin, she led the group responsible for all corporate intellectual property matters, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, transactions and due diligence. Prior to Amylin, Dr. Holman practiced patent law at Christie, Parker and Hale, LLP and Fish and Richardson PC, and was a Licensing Assistant in the Office of Technology Transfer at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Holman received a B.S. in Biology from the University of California at Riverside, a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of California at Irvine and a J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law.

Patricia Novak, Ph.D. Vice President of Program Development - Patricia Novak, Ph.D. joined Metabasis in December 2008. Dr. Novak is responsible for Clinical Operations at Metabasis and has over 20 years experience in drug development, including a year at Metabasis in 2005 when she served as Executive Director, Program Management and R&D Operations. Prior to re-joining Metabasis, Dr. Novak was Vice President of Program Development at Cardium Therapeutics for three years. Dr. Novak was formerly at Collateral Therapeutics from 1997 to 2003, most recently as Vice President of Program Management, where she managed development programs related to cardiovascular product candidates. From 1991 to 1997, Dr. Novak held various clinical research and development positions at Gensia, Inc., the most recent of which was Director of Research and Development Planning and Project Management. Prior to joining Gensia, Dr. Novak was a Clinical Project Manager at Alpha Therapeutic Corporation from 1987 to 1991. Dr. Novak received a Ph.D. in biological sciences from the University of California, Irvine.

Scott J. Hecker, Ph.D., has served as Executive Director of Chemistry since September 2003 and was promoted to Vice President of Chemistry in October 2008. Since joining Metabasis, Dr. Hecker has overseen the selection of two development candidates, MB07803 and MB07811, as well as their successful GMP synthesis for human clinical trials. In addition, Dr. Hecker has taken a leading role in collaborations with Merck, Idenix and Roche toward the application of HepDirect technology to nucleoside antivirals for HCV. Prior to joining Metabasis, Dr. Hecker was Vice President of Chemistry at Essential Therapeutics (formerly Microcide Pharmaceuticals), where from 1993-2003 he led teams in the discovery of novel anti-infective drug candidates while assuming responsibility for Natural Products Research, Chemical Development and Intellectual Property. Dr. Hecker began his industrial career at Pfizer (Groton), as a medicinal chemist in antibacterial drug discovery from 1985-1993. Dr. Hecker’s research has resulted in over 35 publications and 23 U.S. patents. Dr. Hecker holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley and a B.A. in Chemistry from Wesleyan University.

Mr. Hale has served as Chairman of our Board of Directors since September 2006 and as a director since April 1997. Mr. Hale is currently Executive Chairman and Interim Chief Executive Officer of Somaxon Pharmaceuticals and Chairman of Hale BioPharma Ventures. He served as President and Chief Executive Officer and a Director of CancerVax Corporation from October 2000 to May 2006 when CancerVax merged with Micromet AG to form Micromet, Inc., of which he is Chairman. Prior to joining CancerVax, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Women First HealthCare, Inc. from January 1998 to May 2000. Mr. Hale served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Gensia from May 1987 to November 1997. Prior to joining Gensia, Mr. Hale was President and Chief Executive Officer of Hybritech Inc. Mr. Hale serves as Chairman of the board of directors of the publicly-held biopharmaceutical companies Santarus, Inc. He also serves as Executive Chairman of the privately-held specialty pharma company, SkinMedica, Inc., and on the boards of privately-held Verus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Conatus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Mr. Hale also serves on the boards of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), BIOCOM/San Diego, CONNECT, the Biotechnology Institute, Children's Hospital and The Burnham Institute. Mr. Hale received a B.A. in biology and chemistry from Jacksonville State University.

Alan Cherrington, Ph.D. is Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. He is also the Associate Director of the Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center and the Charles H. Best Professor of Diabetes Research. Dr. Cherrington has carried out research into the regulation of carbohydrate metabolism in vivo for over thirty years and has authored over 260 scientific articles. In particular, he has studied the regulation of glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis by both the endocrine and nervous systems. He has also studied the regulation of post-prandial fuel disposition. Dr. Cherrington has won both the Lilly and Banting Awards for Research from the American Diabetes Association. He currently serves as Vice-Chair of the American Diabetes Association Research Foundation Board and is a member of a number of editorial boards for a variety of scientific journals.

Anna Mae Diehl, M.D. is a Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Diehl serves on numerous Committees for the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, the American College of Physicians, the International Associate for the Study of Liver Diseases, the American Federation of Clinical Research, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the National Institute for Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases, as well as others. Dr. Diehl has served as a liver disease consultant for various pharmaceutical companies and serves on Editorial Boards for a number of journals including Hepatology, Practical Reviews in Gastroenterology, the American Journal of Physiology, and the American Journal of Medicine. Her research activities have focused on both clinical and pre-clinical studies of chronic liver diseases including alcohol and non-alcoholic liver steatohepatitis, liver regeneration and the role of cytokines in liver disease. Dr. Diehl has authored over 100 publications in the field of liver- and gastroenterology-related diseases.

Dr. Oronsky has been a member of our Board of Directors since November 1996 and was elected Chairman in February 2006. Dr. Oronsky is a general partner with InterWest Partners, a venture capital firm. Prior to joining InterWest Partners in 1994, Dr. Oronsky was vice president of discovery research for the Lederle Laboratories division of American Cyanamid, a pharmaceutical company. From 1973 until 1976, Dr. Oronsky was head of the inflammation, allergy and immunology research program at Ciba-Geigy Pharmaceutical Company. Dr. Oronsky also serves as a senior lecturer in the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins Medical School. Dr. Oronsky has won numerous grants and awards and has published over 125 scientific articles. Dr. Oronsky serves on the boards of directors of Aspreva Pharmaceuticals Corporation; Anesiva, Inc.; and Metabasis Therapeutics, Inc. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, and his AB from New York University.

Mr. Burgess has served on our Board of Directors since March 2004. Mr. Burgess is currently President and Chief Executive Officer and a director of Mpex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held pharmaceutical company. Prior to joining Mpex, Mr. Burgess was Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he was employed from 1999 to 2007. Mr. Burgess was also Chief Financial Officer of Nanogen, Inc. from 1998 to 1999 and previously spent ten years with Gensia, including with Gensia Automedics, Inc., a partially owned subsidiary of Gensia. He served as President and a director of Gensia Automedics, where he was responsible for all functional areas of this medical products company. In addition, he was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Gensia, where he was responsible for finance, investor relations, business development and other administrative functions. Prior to joining Gensia, Mr. Burgess held positions at Castle & Cooke, Inc. and Smith Barney, Harris Upham and Company. He received a degree in economics from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

David J. Waxman, Ph.D. is Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology at Boston University and Professor of Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. He is an internationally recognized authority on cytochrome P450 enzymes and genes, with emphasis on their importance in drug development and on their role in metabolism leading to bioactivation of anti-cancer drugs. He has made major contributions to the development of P450-based prodrug activation strategies for cancer therapy. Dr. Waxman has authored over 170 publications and 36 book chapters in his field.

Gerald I. Shulman, M.D., Ph.D. is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Professor of Medicine and Cellular & Molecular Physiology at Yale University School of Medicine. He is also Program Director of the Yale-General Clinical Research Center, Associate Chief for the Section of Endocrinology/Metabolism, Associate Director of the Yale Diabetes-Endocrinology Research Center, and Associate Director of the Yale Medical Scientist (M.D.-Ph.D.) Training Program. Dr. Shulman completed his undergraduate studies in Biophysics at the University of Michigan, and received both M.D., Ph.D. degrees from Wayne State University. Following internship and residency at Duke University Medical Center, he completed an endocrine fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital Harvard Medical School, and did additional postdoctoral work in molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale University before joining the faculty at Harvard Medical School. Upon returning to Yale Dr. Shulman's research has focused on the mechanism of insulin resistance in patients with type II diabetes. Over the past 20 years Dr. Shulman has published over 180 articles and has received numerous awards for his scholarly work including the Outstanding Investigator Award of the American Federation for Clinical Research, the Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award (Lilly Lecture) of the American Diabetes Association, and the Diabetes Care Research Award from the Boehringer Mannheim/Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Dr. Shulman has served on multiple scientific review committees including the NIH metabolism study section, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Scientific Review Board and the American Diabetes Association Grant Review Panel. Dr. Shulman is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and he has been elected to a number of honorary societies including the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.

Jules Dienstag, M.D. is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a Physician at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is recognized worldwide as a leader in pre-clinical and clinic hepatitis research. Dr. Dienstag serves or has served on Advisory Boards for most of the companies involved in development of antiviral drugs for hepatitis B and C. Also, he is one of the Principle Investigators of the NIH-NIDDK-supported Hepatitis C Antiviral Long-term Treatment against Cirrhosis ("HALT-C") Trial. Dr. Dienstag has authored well over 250 publications on viral hepatitis. He served two terms as Associate Editor of Gastroenterology, was the Medical Director for Liver Transplantation and founder of the Liver Clinic at the Massachusetts General Hospital, where he is currently the Executive Director of the Liver-Biliary-Pancreas Center and Editor of its Newsletter.

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William R. Rohn has served on our Board of Directors since December 2004. From April 2005 until March 2006, Mr. Rohn served as interim Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of the Board of Raven Biotechnologies, a private biotechnology company for which he currently serves as a director. In January 2005, Mr. Rohn retired from Biogen Idec Inc., where he had served as Chief Operating Officer since the merger of IDEC Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Biogen, Inc. in November 2003. Mr. Rohn joined IDEC in August 1993 as Senior Vice President, Commercial and Corporate Development, was appointed Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations in April 1996 and was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in May 1998 and President in January 2002. Prior to joining IDEC, Mr. Rohn was employed by Adria Laboratories from 1984 until 1993, most recently as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Prior to Adria, Mr. Rohn held marketing and sales management positions at Abbott Laboratories, Warren-Teed Pharmaceuticals, Miles Laboratories and Mead Johnson Laboratories. Mr. Rohn serves on the Board of Directors of Cerus Corporation, a publicly-held biotechnology company, and Pharmacyclics, Inc. and Elan Corporation plc, publicly-held pharmaceutical companies. Mr. Rohn received a B.A. in Marketing from Michigan State University.