Acadia Pharmaceuticals Appoints Doug Williamson, M.D., as Executive Vice President, Head of Research and Development

Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: ACAD) announced today the appointment of Dr. Doug Williamson as Executive Vice President, Head of Research and Development (R&D). Dr. Williamson will lead research and development at Acadia and will serve as a member of the company’s Executive Management Committee, reporting to Steve Davis, Chief Executive Officer of Acadia. Dr. Williamson will succeed Dr. Srdjan Stankovic, whose planned retirement was announced last year.

“We are excited to announce Doug’s appointment,” said Steve Davis, Acadia’s Chief Executive Officer. “As we prepare for the potential approval and launch of our second product, trofinetide for the treatment of Rett syndrome, and advance our early and late-stage clinical programs, Doug’s significant neuroscience R&D leadership experience will be key to executing our pipeline strategy at a pivotal time for Acadia. I look forward to partnering with him.”

“I am thrilled to join Acadia at such an important inflection point. I look forward to building on Acadia’s history of delivering on the promise of improving the lives of patients and their families facing significant unmet need in central nervous system disorders,” said Dr. Williamson.

Dr. Williamson brings more than 20 years of research, development, and commercial experience to his new role. Most recently, Dr. Williamson served as Chief Medical Officer at Avadel Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that, he served as Senior Vice President, Head of U.S. Research and Development and Deputy Global Chief Medical Officer at Lundbeck, where he led a transformation of the U.S. Research and Development organization and oversaw multiple cross-functional teams across clinical development and operations, medical affairs, health outcomes, pharmacovigilance, clinical pharmacology and regulatory affairs.

Before Lundbeck, Dr. Williamson was Vice President, Global Head Therapeutic Area Leadership at Parexel International, where he served as the functional head of the medical group across all therapeutic areas. Earlier, Dr. Williamson held increasingly senior roles at Eli Lilly and Company. He led the global clinical development and approvals of Symbyax for treatment-resistant and bipolar depression, and of Zyprexa for bipolar maintenance; he led a medical affairs team that supported the commercial development and success of Cymbalta, a blockbuster drug for depression; and he served as Head of Early Phase Clinical Development, Neuroscience, where he oversaw the clinical development of all novel molecules in the psychiatry, pain and neurodegeneration portfolio.