18 September 2017 - - Paul A. Friedman, M.D. has been appointed to serve on US-based rare disorders treatment specialist Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: ALXN) board of directors, the company said.

He succeeds R. Douglas Norby, who has retired as a director following 18 years of service to the company.

Alexion also announced that director Alvin S. Parven advised the board that he does not plan to stand for re-election at the company's next annual meeting of shareholders following 18 years of service as an Alexion director.

The company's board of directors has retained Spencer Stuart to conduct a search for an additional new director.

Friedman is a well-known and highly-respected veteran of the biotech industry with deep experience in research, and both early and late clinical development.

Over his more than 40-year career, Friedman has established a track record of building and leading R and D organisations, successfully expanding their pipelines of assets, overseeing the commercial development of innovative therapeutic products across a range of areas, and building shareholder value.

Friedman served as president and chief executive officer of Incyte Corp., a leading biopharmaceuticals company, from 2001-2014 where he led a transformation of the business from genomics to a therapeutic focus establishing its foundation as a leader in oncology.

He continues to serve on Incyte's board of directors. Currently, Dr. Friedman serves as chairman and chief executive officer of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc., following its merger with Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. in July 2016.

Earlier in his career, Dr. Friedman held executive and R and D positions with DuPont Pharmaceuticals Research Laboratories, Merck Research Laboratories and Merck Sharp and Dohme Corp.

Alexion is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and delivering life-transforming therapies for patients with devastating and rare disorders.

The company is a leader in complement inhibition and has developed and commercialises the first and only approved complement inhibitor to treat patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, and refractory generalized myasthenia gravis.

In addition, Alexion has two highly innovative enzyme replacement therapies for patients with life-threatening and ultra-rare metabolic disorders, hypophosphatasia and lysosomal acid lipase deficiency (LAL-D).