Mark Booth joins Orexigen Therapeutics as the Chief Commercial Officer

Orexigen((R)) Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: OREX) today announced that Mark Booth has joined the Company as Chief Commercial Officer. Mr. Booth brings over 25 years of commercial and business development experience to Orexigen. Most recently he served as President of Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America (TPNA) where he presided over the commercial, medical and scientific affairs, business development and all support functions. Under his leadership TPNA became one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. with sales of over $4 billion. Over the course of his career Mr. Booth has played an integral role in numerous co-development/co-promotional partnerships including Prevacid((R)), Enbrel((R)) and Actos((R)) which all achieved multi-billion dollar sales status.

"We believe that Contrave((R)), if approved, has the potential to dramatically impact the treatment of obesity. Mark's broad commercial experience and proven track record in many large markets make him a valuable addition to the Orexigen management team as we build our plans for market success," said Michael Narachi, President and Chief Executive Officer. "This is an exciting time for Orexigen and Mark's extensive commercial and partnership experience will be critical as we plan for the Contrave launch and evaluate potential commercial partners."

Prior to his role at TPNA, Mr. Booth served as Senior Vice President, General Manager at Immunex Corporation where he was responsible for the sales, marketing and project management functions until the company was acquired by Amgen in 2002. Prior to his appointment at Immunex Corporation Mr. Booth was at Abbott Laboratories where he served in a range of leadership positions. In his last role he held the title of Division Vice President, General Manager for the $1 billion anti-infective franchise.

Mr. Booth holds a BS in Biology from Northern Illinois University and an MBA from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management.