Jazz Pharmaceuticals Names Russell J. Cox To Position Of Chief Operating Officer

DUBLIN, May 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (Nasdaq: JAZZ) today announced the appointment of Russell J. Cox to the newly created position of chief operating officer (COO).  Mr. Cox, who joined Jazz Pharmaceuticals in July 2010, most recently served as executive vice president and chief commercial officer at the company.  He will continue to report to Bruce Cozadd, chairman and chief executive officer, and will now have global responsibility for the commercial, research and development (R&D) and technical operations organizations.

Mr. Cox brings to this new role more than 20 years of experience in leadership roles with global biopharmaceutical companies.  Prior to joining Jazz, he served as senior vice president and chief commercial officer at Ipsen Group following its acquisition of Tercica, Inc.  Mr. Cox also served as vice president of marketing at Scios, Inc., which was acquired by Johnson and Johnson, and held several escalating leadership roles at Genentech, Inc., including new product development and product team leader.  In 2013, he joined the board of directors of Vascular Cures, a non-profit organization focused on investing in breakthrough treatments for vascular disease.  Mr. Cox is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Harvard Medical School Division of Sleep Medicine.  Mr. Cox has broad leadership experience in multiple specialty areas, including central nervous system disease, hematology/oncology, endocrinology, and cardiovascular disease.

"This is the right time to introduce a chief operating officer position, as it will be instrumental to managing our expanding global operations and the diversification of our R&D and commercial franchises, including the recent additions of Defitelio in the European Union and JZP-110," said Bruce Cozadd.  "Russ's attention on driving products from development through commercialization will allow me to focus on our continued growth and corporate development strategy, on integrating our corporate culture, and on our commitment to helping meet the unmet needs of patients and building value for our shareholders.  The combination of Russ's commercial and development experience, leadership roles, and track record at Jazz makes Russ ideally suited for the role of chief operating officer."

Cox stated, "I am excited to take on this new COO role during this time of global growth and expansion of our commercial and development portfolio and look forward to helping the company fulfill its mission of identifying, developing and commercializing differentiated products that address significant unmet medical needs."

About Jazz Pharmaceuticals

Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (Nasdaq: JAZZ) is a specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on improving patients' lives by identifying, developing and commercializing differentiated products that address unmet medical needs. The company has a diverse portfolio of products and/or product candidates in the areas of sleep, hematology/oncology, pain and psychiatry. The company's U.S. marketed products in these areas include: Xyrem® (sodium oxybate) oral solution, Erwinaze® (asparaginase Erwinia chrysanthemi), Prialt® (ziconotide) intrathecal infusion, Versacloz™ (clozapine) oral suspension, FazaClo® (clozapine, USP) HD and FazaClo LD. Jazz Pharmaceuticals also has a number of products marketed outside the United States, including Erwinase® and Defitelio® (defibrotide). For more information, please visit www.jazzpharmaceuticals.com.