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Ligand Pharmaceuticals Names Director Todd C. Davis as CEO
John Higgins Retires as CEO and will Resign from the Ligand Board of Directors SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:
About this update from Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated
[{"type":"text","content":"\nJohn Higgins Retires as CEO and will Resign from the Ligand Board of Directors\n\n SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nLigand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: LGND) today announced that John Higgins has retired as Chief Executive Officer, effective as of today, and that the company’s board of directors has named Todd C. Davis as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Higgins will resign as a director of the company on December 31, 2022.\n\nMr. Davis is currently a member of Ligand’s board of directors and is Managing Partner of RoyaltyRx Capital, a special opportunities investment firm he founded in 2018.\n\n“On behalf of the Board and everyone at Ligand, I extend our profound gratitude to John Higgins for his 16 years of exceptional service to our company and wish him all the best in his future endeavors,” said John W. Kozarich, Ph.D., Ligand’s Chairman. “When the Board recruited John as CEO in 2006, Ligand was operating at a significant net loss and had fewer than 10 royalty assets. With great vision, speed and effectiveness, John implemented a new royalty-based business model, acquired new technologies, and positioned the company for significant growth and profitability. Today Ligand has nearly 150 partnered drugs and drug candidates in various stages of commercialization and development. Following Ligand’s recent spinout of OmniAb, and its related drug discovery and enabling technologies, we look forward to further strengthening the portfolio through a focus on underserved life science royalty opportunities. With this transition, we are pleased Mr. Higgins will continue to serve as chairman of OmniAb and remain engaged with that company.\n\n“Todd Davis has been actively involved in setting Ligand’s strategic direction, and we are fortunate he has agreed to serve as CEO. Owing to his deep knowledge of Ligand and his vast experience successfully assembling life sciences royalty portfolios, we look forward to a seamless and orderly transition. Importantly Todd’s extensive royalty experience makes this an opportune time for him to take the helm at Ligand,” added Kozarich.\n\nMr. Davis commented, “I am honored to assume the day-to-day leadership of Ligand. Together we are steadfast in our mission to create value for our shareholders by maximizing the value of our technologies and supporting our growing roster of pharmaceutical industry pa...