On November 1, 2022 Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: LGND) reported the company has completed the expected tax-free spin-off of its OmniAb antibody discovery business which has become OmniAb, Inc., an independent publicly traded company (Press release, Ligand, NOV 1, 2022, View Source [SID1234622686]). OmniAb will begin regular-way trading November 2, 2022 on NASDAQ under the stock ticker symbol "OABI." Ligand continues to trade under the stock ticker symbol "LGND."
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"For the last decade, Ligand has been focused on providing the tools and technologies needed by the pharmaceutical industry and sharing in the promise of drug innovation with our shareholders. Today, Ligand has a diversified portfolio of growing royalty revenue and a large portfolio of late-stage programs," said John Higgins, CEO. "With the spin-off completed, we are focused on creating financial growth for years to come. We wish Matt Foehr and the OmniAb team well as they continue to enable development of innovative therapeutics as an independent publicly traded company."
Ligand Leadership Updates
In conjunction with the spin-off, Ligand is also announcing Executive management appointments. Ligand is led by a team of experienced executives with a record of building businesses with strong financial growth and disciplined business investing.
"I’m delighted to announce changes in leadership at Ligand. Matt Korenberg and Tavo Espinoza are expanding their responsibilities within Ligand, and we are pleased to have Andrew Reardon join our executive leadership team. Matt has been promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer. He has led the financial and strategic efforts at Ligand over the previous seven years as Chief Financial Officer. I am excited for Matt to continue his leadership in this elevated and expanded role," said John Higgins, Chief Executive Officer.
"Tavo joins our executive leadership team as Chief Financial Officer after six years leading the Accounting and Finance functions at Ligand. Andrew joins the team as Chief Legal Officer and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in royalty transactions. I am confident this experienced team will continue to drive the pursuit of growth through Ligand’s exciting new chapter."
Octavio (Tavo) Espinoza is joining Ligand’s executive leadership team as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Espinoza has been with Ligand since 2016 serving in a variety of finance leadership roles at Ligand, most recently as Senior Vice President, Finance. Prior to joining Ligand, Mr. Espinoza served as Senior Director, Finance for Receptos, a publicly traded drug-discovery company, that was acquired by Celgene (now Bristol-Myers Squibb). Before Receptos, Mr. Espinoza was Senior Director, Accounting for Illumina, a publicly traded life sciences analytics and genetics sequencing tools company, and prior to Illumina, served as Senior Manager, Accounting at Intuit. Mr. Espinoza began his professional career in public accounting at PricewaterhouseCoopers and holds a B.S. in business administration from San Diego State University and a license as a Certified Public Accountant in the State of California.
Andrew Reardon joins Ligand’s executive leadership team as Chief Legal Officer. Prior to joining Ligand, Mr. Reardon was the Chief Legal Officer at HealthCare Royalty Management, a manager of investment funds investing in biopharmaceutical products primarily through royalty and structured credit transactions. Before joining HealthCare Royalty, Mr. Reardon was a senior associate with the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, where he focused on corporate transactions, including finance and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Reardon is a former officer with the United States Army National Guard. He earned his J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law and received his B.A. from the State University of New York College at Old Westbury.
As part of the planned business separation, in connection with the closing of the business combination, Jennifer Cochran, Ph.D., Sarah Boyce and Sunil Patel stepped down from the Ligand board of directors and joined the OmniAb board. These changes reduce Ligand’s number of directors to eight.
Other Updates
In conjunction with the spin-out OmniAb will retain the current Ligand address for its corporate headquarters and Ligand will transfer its headquarters to Las Vegas, Nevada in approximately two months. Ligand has leased office space in Nevada since 2019 and Nevada has been the primary distribution point for Captisol shipments originating in the United States since that time.