Targacept Appoints Alan Musso as Vice President And Chief Financial Officer

[antiquity]

Targacept Appoints Alan Musso as Vice President And Chief Financial Officer


WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Feb. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Targacept, Inc., a privately held research and development pharmaceutical company focused on neuronal nicotinic receptor-based therapeutics, today announced the addition of Alan A. Musso as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

"The CFO function will be particularly important as Targacept expands its infrastructure and positions itself for the next phase of corporate development," said J. Donald deBethizy, Ph.D., President and CEO of Targacept. "Alan's broad financial experience, gained at both established and development stage pharmaceutical companies, will be a valuable resource for us."

Mr. Musso has over 18 years of experience in finance and accounting. Most recently, he was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Osiris Therapeutics based in Baltimore. Previously, he served as Chief Financial Officer for Cato Research, a global contract research organization in Durham, N.C. At the same time, he served as CFO for Vascular Genetics Inc., a gene therapy company co-founded by Cato Holding Company. In these technology- focused positions, Mr. Musso was involved in capital raising, corporate partnering, finance and strategy. Mr. Musso's earlier work experience included positions with Pfizer, Duramed Pharmaceuticals and KPMG.

Mr. Musso received a B.S. in accounting from Saint Mary's College of California, and a master's degree from the American Graduate School of International Management in Glendale, Arizona.

Targacept was established in 1997 as a wholly owned subsidiary of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (NYSE: RJR). It was spun out in August 2000, in one of the largest ($30.4 million) first-round venture capital financings in U.S. biotech history and the largest in North Carolina biotech history. Targacept has product candidates in development for treating Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, ulcerative colitis, depression, pain and Lewy body dementia, among others. The company has strategic alliances with Aventis Pharmaceuticals of Strasbourg, France and Dr. Falk Pharma of Freiburg, Germany to develop and commercialize Targacept compounds.

A photo of Mr. Musso and additional information about Targacept can be obtained at the company's website, www.targacept.com.