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Exhibit 99
ViroPharma Incorporated Announces
the Appointment of Ellen C. Cooper, M.D. as Vice President of
Clinical and Regulatory Affairs
Exton, PA, August 29, 2000 -- ViroPharma Incorporated (Nasdaq: VPHM) announced
today the addition of Ellen C. Cooper, M.D. as vice president, clinical and
regulatory affairs. Dr. Cooper will be responsible for developing and
implementing the clinical and regulatory strategy for all ViroPharma products as
ViroPharma continues its growth toward becoming a commercial organization
focused on developing and commercializing products to treat people who suffer
from viral diseases.
"Dr. Cooper brings exceptional clinical and regulatory expertise to the
ViroPharma team," said Mark A. McKinlay, ViroPharma's vice president, research
and development. "As a consultant to the company, Dr. Cooper has been
instrumental in assisting us with the design of our recently initiated pivotal
trials and the development of our regulatory strategy for pleconaril in patients
with viral respiratory infection. We look forward to capitalizing on Dr.
Cooper's experience as we advance pleconaril and other ViroPharma product
candidates toward commercialization."
Prior to joining the company, Dr. Cooper was a pharmaceutical consultant
involved in providing expert guidance in drug development, clinical trials
design and analysis and regulatory issues to a wide variety of pharmaceutical
companies, including ViroPharma. Earlier in her career, Dr. Cooper spent almost
ten years in various positions of increasing responsibility with the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration.
During her tenure at FDA, she served as the founding director of the Division of
Antiviral Drug Products in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, where
she was instrumental in accelerating the review and approval of several leading
AIDS therapies. Dr. Cooper received several awards and honors from both the
government and from AIDS activist organizations for her role in advancing AIDS
and other antiviral products to market. Dr. Cooper also has served as vice
president and director of the Institute of Clinical Immunology and Infectious
Diseases for Syntex Research, and as vice president and director of clinical
research and information for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR).
Dr. Cooper has also worked in the Office of AIDS Research at the National
Institutes of Health.
ViroPharma Incorporated is committed to the commercialization, development and
discovery of antiviral pharmaceuticals. The Company is focused on drug
development and discovery activities for viral diseases, including viral
respiratory infection (VRI, a severe form of the common cold), hepatitis C and
respiratory syncytial virus disease.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements
relating to the Company's ongoing efforts to obtain regulatory approval for and
commercialize its product candidates. Certain of ViroPharma's product
candidates, including pleconaril, currently are in clinical trials. There can
be no assurance that planned or ongoing clinical trials can be successfully
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concluded or concluded in accordance with the Company's anticipated schedule.
The conduct of clinical trials and acquiring regulatory approval for
investigational pharmaceutical products are subject to risks and uncertainties.
Neither the FDA nor any other regulatory authority has approved pleconaril or
any of ViroPharma's other product candidates for commercialization. There can be
no assurance that FDA or other regulatory authority approval for pleconaril or
any other product candidate under development by ViroPharma will be granted on a
timely basis or at all. Even if approved, there can be no assurance that
pleconaril will achieve market acceptance. These factors, and other factors
that could cause future results to differ materially from the expectations
expressed in this press release, include, but are not limited to, those
described in ViroPharma's most recent Registration Statement on Form S-3 filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements
contained in this press release may become outdated over time. ViroPharma does
not assume any responsibility for updating any forward-looking statements.
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