JOHN T. SPITZNAGEL was elected Chairman of IRX Therapeutics’ Board of Directors in April 2005. He has been a Director of the Company since October 2002.

Mr. Spitznagel is the recipient of Ernst & Young’s 2004 Entrepreneur of the Year“ award for the New Jersey region pharmaceutical industry. He is a founder and former Chairman and CEO of ESP Pharma, a niche pharmaceutical company engaged in the acquisition, development and marketing of acute-care therapeutics. Under his leadership and within three years of beginning operations in April 2002, ESP Pharma rapidly emerged as a cash-flow positive and profitable company and, in March 2005, was acquired for approximately $500 million by Protein Design Labs, Inc., a leading developer of humanized monoclonal antibodies.

Prior to ESP Pharma, Mr. Spitznagel was President and CEO of Roberts Pharmaceutical, which specialized in acquiring and maximizing the potential of in-market and late-stage development drugs. He joined Roberts in 1996 and is credited with leading that company through a dramatic turnaround in profitability and engineering the successful merger of Roberts with Shire Pharmaceuticals in late 1999 for approximately $1.2 billion, representing a nearly four-fold expansion in Roberts' market value during his tenure.

From 1971 to 1979 he worked at Hoffmann-La Roche, and between 1979 and 1989, he worked at American Home Products, where he was Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Wyeth. Mr. Spitznagel is a director at Barbeau Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Mr. Spitznagel began his career in 1966 at Warner-Lambert in sales and marketing.

Mr. Spitznagel received his BA from Rider University and an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University.