Intercept Appoints Linda Richardson as Chief Commercial Officer

Lisa DeFrancesco, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs & Investor Relations, will join Intercept’s Executive Leadership Team

NEW YORK, Feb. 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:ICPT), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics to treat progressive non-viral liver diseases, today announced the appointment of Linda Richardson as Chief Commercial Officer. Ms. Richardson was previously Senior Vice President and Head of the Global Cholestasis Program at Intercept, where she has guided long-range planning for Intercept’s rare disease franchise in PBC and other cholestatic liver diseases since 2018.

“Linda’s deep global commercial experience makes her an ideal leader for Intercept’s next phase of growth and development,” said Jerry Durso, President and Chief Executive Officer of Intercept. “Linda will be responsible for overseeing our Ocaliva franchise in the U.S. and International regions, as well as commercial strategy and execution for future indications and product opportunities.”

Prior to joining Intercept, Ms. Richardson served as Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer at Chimerix, Inc., overseeing marketing, market access and reimbursement, market research and analytics, forecasting, supply chain and distribution strategies, commercial operations, product communications and sales. From 2008 to 2013, she held commercial leadership roles of increasing responsibility at Sanofi, where she oversaw multiple U.S. and global product launches. Prior to joining Sanofi, Ms. Richardson held marketing leadership roles at Reliant Pharmaceuticals and GlaxoSmithKline.

“Intercept has established a proven track record of commercial execution with the launch of Ocaliva and I believe we have an opportunity to build on this strong foundation to support patients with PBC and other progressive non-viral liver diseases in the future,” said Ms. Richardson. “We have an amazing team at Intercept, and it is a great privilege to be taking on this new role during a pivotal year for the company.”

In addition to Ms. Richardson, Lisa DeFrancesco will join Intercept’s Executive Leadership Team.

Ms. DeFrancesco, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs & Investor Relations since December 2020, was previously Intercept’s Vice President of Investor Relations. Prior to joining Intercept, she served as Senior Vice President, Investor Relations, Corporate Communications and Government Affairs at Melinta Therapeutics where she was a member of the company’s Executive Leadership Team. From 2009 to 2017, Ms. DeFrancesco held roles of increasing responsibility at Allergan plc, most recently in the role of Vice President, Investor Relations.