1 October 2020 - - US-based Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ACAD) has appointed Elizabeth (Betsy) Garofalo, M.D. to its board of directors, the company said.

Garofalo is a biopharma executive with more than 25 years of experience in global clinical development and regulatory affairs.

Since 2016, Dr. Garofalo has served as the Principal for EAG Pharma Consulting LLC.

Prior to that, Dr. Garofalo served in numerous leadership roles including as the Global Head of Clinical Development and member of the Novartis Global Development Leadership Team, chair of the Novartis Portfolio Stewardship Board, Co-Head of the Novartis Neuroscience Franchise, Head of the Neuroscience Therapy Area at Astellas, Ann Arbor Site Head of Worldwide Regulatory Affairs at Pfizer, and Ann Arbor Site Head of Neuroscience at Pfizer.

Garofalo currently serves on the board for the Institute for Advanced Clinical Trials in Children and is the chair of the Business advisory board for the Epilepsy Foundation of America.

She earned her M.D. from the Indiana University School of Medicine and completed fellowships in pediatric neurology and epilepsy at the University of Michigan Medical School.

Acadia developed and commercialise the first and only approved therapy for hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson's disease psychosis.

Its late-stage development efforts are focused on dementia-related psychosis, negative symptoms of schizophrenia and Rett syndrome, and in early-stage clinical research we are exploring novel approaches to pain management, and cognition and neuropsychiatric symptoms in central nervous system disorders.