Elected to our Board in May 2006, John E. Crawford serves as an independent director and his previous experience qualifies him as a financial expert. He is Chairman of the Audit Committee, and a member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance and Compensation Committees of the Board.

Mr. Crawford has extensive experience in the areas of biopharmaceuticals and medical devices. He is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Phenomix Corporation, a privately-held drug discovery and development company with a portfolio of internally-discovered, novel therapeutics. Since January 2006, John has been CFO of three other San Diego-based biotechnology firms: Conforma Therapeutics, acquired by Biogen-Idec in May 2006; Cabrellis Pharmaceuticals, acquired by Pharmion in November 2006; and NovaCardia, acquired by Merck in September 2007.

Mr. Crawford was the founding president of Corvas International, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company which focused on therapeutic agents for the prevention and treatment of major cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases. While at Corvas he held a variety of senior management positions and raised over $200 million in equity and research funding during his tenure as Chief Financial Officer.

Mr. Crawford received his bachelor's degree in mathematical sciences from Stanford University, and his MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.