Board of Directors

David F. Hale
Chairman

David Hale is one of Somaxon’s co-founders and has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors since our founding in August 2003. He also served as our interim Chief Executive Officer from January 2008 until August 2008. Mr. Hale has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hale BioPharma Ventures since May 2006. He was appointed Executive Chairman of Biocept, Inc. in March 2011. Previously, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of CancerVax Corporation, a biotechnology company, until it merged with Micromet AG. He currently serves as Chairman of Micromet’s board of directors. Prior to joining CancerVax, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Women First HealthCare, Inc. Mr. Hale served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Gensia Inc., a pharmaceutical company which became Gensia Sicor. Prior to this, he was President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive Officer of Hybritech Inc. Mr. Hale also held sales, marketing and general management positions with Johnson & Johnson and Becton Dickinson and Company.

Mr. Hale serves as Chairman of the Board of Santarus, Inc. and was formerly a director of Metabasis Therapeutics, Inc. Mr. Hale is a member of the boards of directors of industry organizations including BIOCOM/San Diego and the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), is a member of the board of directors of Rady Children’s Hospital and Health Center and the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute and was Chairman of CONNECT from July 2004 to January 2011. Mr. Hale earned a B.A. degree in Biology and Chemistry from Jacksonville State University.

Richard W. Pascoe

Richard Pascoe joined Somaxon as our President and Chief Executive Officer in August 2008. Previously, Mr. Pascoe was the Chief Operating Officer at ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, an emerging oncology company, where he led commercial operations, manufacturing, information services, program and alliance management and business development. Prior to that, he held a series of senior management roles at King Pharmaceuticals, Inc., including Senior Vice President of neuroscience marketing and sales and Vice President positions in both international sales and marketing and hospital sales. He also held positions in the commercial groups at Medco Research, Inc. (which was acquired by King), COR Therapeutics, Inc. (where he helped lead the successful launch of eptifibatide (Integrilin^®)), B. Braun Interventional and the BOC Group. Mr. Pascoe served as a commissioned officer in the United States Army following his graduation from the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he earned a B.S. degree in Leadership.

Terrell A. Cobb

Terrell Cobb has served as a member of Somaxon’s board of directors since August 2003. Mr. Cobb is the founder and currently serves as President of ProCom One, a drug development company, a position he has held since 1998. From 1995 to the present, Mr. Cobb has served as a consultant focusing on business development activities in the pharmaceutical industry. He previously spent 15 years in various positions at Johnson and Johnson. Mr. Cobb has founded four specialty pharmaceutical companies, has held senior management positions in several start-up organizations, including Pharmaco and Scandipharm, and has acted as an advisor and consultant to other drug development companies. He earned a B.A. degree from Mercer University in Chemistry and Psychology.

Michael L. Eagle

Michael Eagle has served on Somaxon’s board of directors since May 2007. Mr. Eagle served as Vice President of Manufacturing for Eli Lilly and Company from 1994 through 2001, and held a number of executive management positions with Eli Lilly and its subsidiaries throughout his career. Since retiring from Eli Lilly, he has served as a founding member of Barnard Life Sciences, LLC. Mr. Eagle earned his B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Kettering University and an M.B.A. degree from the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University. He serves on the board of directors of Cadence Pharmaceuticals and on the Board of Trustees of the La Jolla Playhouse and Futures for Children.

Kurt von Emster, CFA

Kurt von Emster has served as a member of Somaxon’s board of directors since August 2005. Mr. von Emster currently is Managing Director of venBio LLC. From November 2000 through February 2009, Mr. von Emster was a General Partner and Portfolio Manager for the MPM BioEquities Fund. Prior to that, Mr. von Emster spent 11 years with Franklin Templeton Group as a Vice President and Portfolio Manager where he managed over $2 billion in health and biotech funds. In his tenure at Franklin, Mr. von Emster was responsible for building the health care group and was responsible for conceiving and developing seven different life science investment products for Franklin. Mr. von Emster holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation (CFA), is a member of the Association for Investment Management and Research and is a member of the Security Analysts of San Francisco. He currently serves on the board of directors of Metabolex, a private drug development company. Mr. von Emster is a past director of Facet Biotech Corporation, a public biotech company sold to Abbott Labs in 2010, and a past Board Observer at Acceleron Pharmaceuticals, a private biotechnology company. He earned a degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara in Business and Economics and in 2010, completed the Director College Executive Education Program at the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University.

Erle T. Mast

Erle Mast has served on Somaxon’s board of directors since June 2008. Mr. Mast currently is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and is a co-founder of Clovis Oncology, Inc., an emerging biopharmaceutical company. Previously, Mr. Mast was Chief Financial Officer of Pharmion Corporation from 2002 until its acquisition by Celgene Corporation in March 2008. Mr. Mast also was an Executive Vice President of Pharmion from February 2007 until the acquisition. He was Vice President of Finance for Dura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 1997 until its acquisition by Elan Corporation, plc in 2000, and thereafter he was Chief Financial Officer of Elan’s Global Biopharmaceuticals business until 2002. Prior to that, Mr. Mast was a partner with Deloitte & Touche, LLP. Mr. Mast has been a director of Zogenix, Inc. since 2008 and was a director of Verus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2007 to 2009. Mr. Mast graduated from California State University, Bakersfield with a degree in business administration.

Thomas G. Wiggans

Thomas Wiggans has served on Somaxon’s board of directors since June 2008. Mr. Wiggans served as Chief Executive Officer of Peplin, Inc. from August 2008 until Peplin’s acquisition by LEO Pharma A/S in November 2009, and as Chairman of Peplin’s Board of Directors from October 2007 until such acquisition. Mr. Wiggans served as Chief Executive Officer of Connetics Corporation from 1994 until December 2006 when Connetics was acquired by Stiefel Laboratories, Inc. Mr. Wiggans also was Chairman of the Board of Connetics from January 2006 until the acquisition. From 1992 to 1994, Mr. Wiggans served as President and Chief Operating Officer of CytoTherapeutics Inc. He served in various positions at Ares-Serono Group from 1980 to 1992, including President of its U.S. pharmaceutical operations and Managing Director of its U.K. pharmaceutical operations. Mr. Wiggans currently serves on the boards of directors of Sangamo Biosciences, Inc., Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Victory Pharma Inc., and is Chairman of the Board of Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He is also on the Board of Trustees of the University of Kansas Endowment Association. In addition, Mr. Wiggans is Chairman of the Biotechnology Institute, a non-profit educational organization. Mr. Wiggans earned a B.S. in Pharmacy from the University of Kansas and an M.B.A. from Southern Methodist University.

Faheem Hasnain

Faheem Hasnain has served on our board of directors since September 2010. Mr. Hasnain is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of Receptos, Inc. Prior to that, he was President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Facet Biotech Corporation from December 2008 until its acquisition by Abbott Laboratories in April 2010. Mr. Hasnain was President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of PDL BioPharma, Inc. from October 2008 until Facet Biotech was spun off from PDL BioPharma in December 2008. From October 2004 to September 2008, Mr. Hasnain served at Biogen Idec Inc., most recently as Executive Vice President in charge of the oncology/rheumatology strategic business unit. Prior to Biogen Idec, Mr. Hasnain was President of Oncology Therapeutics Network, a subsidiary of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, from March 2002 to September 2004. From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Hasnain served as Vice President, global eBusiness, at GlaxoSmithKline and, from 1988 to 2000, he served in key commercial and entrepreneurial roles within GlaxoSmithKline and its predecessor organizations, spanning global eBusiness, international commercial operations, sales and marketing. Mr. Hasnain earned a B.H.K. and B.Ed. from the University of Windsor Ontario in Canada.