Xenon Pharmaceuticals Expands Leadership on its Board of Directors with Appointments of Gillian M. Cannon and Justin Gover

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 08, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:XENE), a neurology-focused biopharmaceutical company, today announced two new appointments to its Board of Directors: Dr. Gillian M. Cannon and Mr. Justin Gover. Dr. Cannon has more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, where she served in business and commercial leadership roles at Merck and Co., UCB, Otsuka and Roivant. Mr. Gover served as founding Chief Executive Officer and as a director of GW Pharmaceuticals from inception in 1999 until its sale to Jazz Pharmaceuticals for $7.2 billion in May 2021 and brings nearly twenty-five years of experience in leadership positions in the biotechnology industry with a focus on epilepsy.

Mr. Ian Mortimer, Xenon’s President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “On behalf of our Board of Directors, I am delighted to welcome Gillian and Justin to our Board. Gillian brings a vast knowledge of commercializing novel medicines and leading successful neuroscience franchises at large pharmaceutical companies. In addition to his leadership acumen in the biotechnology industry, Justin brings a depth of understanding of the epilepsy space, with his background as founding CEO at GW Pharma and ongoing advocacy efforts at organizations such as CURE Epilepsy. These Board appointments are particularly timely given our continued efforts in advancing XEN1101 in multiple Phase 3 epilepsy trials and our preparation for commercialization as well as nearing a topline readout of our XEN1101 Phase 2 X-NOVA clinical trial in major depressive disorder. I am proud that both Gillian and Justin are lending their expertise to Xenon and look forward to their valued contributions and counsel.”

Gillian M. Cannon, Ph.D. brings more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, where she has served in leadership roles at multiple prominent global pharmaceutical companies including Merck and Co. Inc., UCB Inc. and Otsuka Pharmaceuticals. Serving more than 25 years at Merck, Dr. Cannon held a variety of senior positions, including Global Vice President for Commercial Operations at Merck’s start-up biosimilar business, Merck BioVentures; Business Unit Head for Merck’s specialty products franchise, and Global Commercial Head of Merck’s neuroscience franchise. More recently, Dr. Cannon was the President of North American Operations for UCB Inc. from 2015 to 2017. In 2018, Dr. Cannon joined Roivant Sciences, a biotechnology company, serving initially as COO for Alyvant and subsequently as Head of Commercial Innovation for Roivant. Dr. Cannon currently serves on the Board of Directors for Corcept Therapeutics, a publicly traded clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company; Affibody AB, a Swedish biotechnology company; Edinburgh Innovations, the commercial arm of Edinburgh University; and Our Future Health Trading Board, the largest UK health research program. She also serves as a lecturer in the Drug Discovery Master’s program at Drexel University, PA. Dr. Cannon received her B.Sc. from the University of Edinburgh and Ph.D. in Health Administration from Temple University.