Acadia Pharmaceuticals - About Us

Board of Directors

Leslie L. Iversen, Ph.D. has been the Chairman of our Board of Directors since December 2000. He has served as a director since 1998. He also was a founding member of our Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Iversen is currently a Professor of Pharmacology at University of Oxford, England, where he has taught since 1995. He was previously a Professor of Pharmacology at King's College, London where he was Director of the Wolfson Centre for Age Related Diseases from 1999 until 2004. Dr. Iversen is internationally recognized for his fundamental contributions to the understanding of neurotransmission. Dr. Iversen served as Vice President of Neuroscience Research, Merck Research Laboratories and Director of the Neuroscience Research Center of Merck Research Laboratories in the UK. He was formerly Director of the Medical Research Council Neurochemical Pharmacology Unit in Cambridge. More recently, Dr. Iversen founded and serves as a director of Panos Therapeutics Ltd. Dr. Iversen is the recipient of numerous awards, including Fellow of the Royal Society of London and Foreign Associate Member of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States. Dr. Iversen received a Ph.D. and B.A. from the University of Cambridge.
Michael T. Borer has served as a director of ACADIA since September 2005. Mr. Borer served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Xcel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on prescription products that treat disorders of the central nervous system, until the sale of the company to Valeant Pharmaceuticals International in early 2005. Prior to founding Xcel in early 2001, Mr. Borer served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Dura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and held other management positions there from 1994 through 2000. Prior to Dura, Mr. Borer spent 12 years in public accounting with Deloitte & Touche in its audit services group. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from San Diego State University.
Laura A. Brege has served as a director of ACADIA since May 2008. Ms. Brege is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, where she is responsible for sales and marketing, medical affairs, legal, business development, and compliance functions. She joined Onyx in June 2006 as Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer and was promoted to her current position in October 2007. Before joining Onyx, Ms. Brege was a general partner at Red Rock Capital Management, a venture capital firm specializing in early stage financing for technology companies. Prior to Red Rock, she was the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at COR Therapeutics. Earlier in her career, Ms. Brege served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Flextronics and Vice President and Treasurer of The Cooper Companies. Ms. Brege serves on the boards of Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and The Ohio University Foundation. Ms. Brege earned her undergraduate degree from Ohio University and has an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.
Mary Ann Gray, Ph.D. has served as a director of our company since April 2005. Currently, Dr. Gray is President of Gray Strategic Advisors, LLC, a company which she started in 2003 and which provides strategic consulting services to the biotechnology industry. Dr. Gray also serves on the boards of directors of Dyax Corp. and Apthera Inc., a privately held company. From 1999 to 2003, Dr. Gray was Senior Analyst and Portfolio Manager for the Federated Kaufmann Fund. Prior to 1999, Dr. Gray led biotechnology equity research groups at Raymond James & Associates, Warburg Dillon Read and Kidder Peabody for an aggregate of nine years. Dr. Gray holds a Ph.D. degree in pharmacology from the University of Vermont where she focused on novel chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of cancer.
Lester J. Kaplan, Ph.D. has served as a director of ACADIA since November 1997. Dr. Kaplan was Executive Vice President and President, Research and Development at Allergan, Inc. from November 2003 to April 2004. Dr. Kaplan joined Allergan in 1983 and, prior to being appointed to Executive Vice President, was Corporate Vice President, Research and Development and Global BOTOX from June 1998 to November 2003. Dr. Kaplan was elected to Allergan's board of directors in 1994 and served in that capacity until April 2004. Dr. Kaplan is Executive Chairman of the Board of Aciex Therapeutics Inc., Chairman of the Board of Altheos, Inc., and a member of the Board of The National Neurovision Research Institute. He serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of Bay City Capital. Dr. Kaplan received a M.S. and Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Torsten Rasmussen has served as a director of ACADIA since April 1998. Mr. Rasmussen has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Management ApS, a management advisory and consulting company, since 1997. Prior to founding Morgan Management in 1997, Mr. Rasmussen had held the position of Executive Vice President, Operations at the LEGO Group (LEGO A/S) in Denmark since 1981. He currently serves as a board member in the capacity of chairman, deputy chairman or ordinary board member of a number of Danish companies of which the following are quoted on the Danish Stock Exchange: Coloplast A/S, TK Development A/S, Vestas Wind Systems A/S and A/S Det Oestasiatiske Kompagni. Mr. Rasmussen holds an M.B.A. from IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Uli Hacksell, Ph.D, our Chief Executive Officer, also serves as a member of the board of directors. For a description of his background, please see "Management Team".