Wilhelm Stahl, Ph.D. Joins Relypsa as Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Operation

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Santa Clara, Ca, October 25, 2011 – Relypsa, Inc. today announced the hiring of Wilhelm Stahl, Ph.D. as its Senior Vice President of Pharmaceutical Operations.  Dr. Stahl is a seasoned executive with over 20 years of experience in the field of pharmaceutical research, development and manufacturing, including extensive involvement with the large-scale manufacture of polymer-based products like those being developed by Relypsa.

“We are extremely fortunate to have someone of Willi Stahl’s caliber joining our executive management team,” stated Gerrit Klaerner, Ph.D., President of Relypsa.  “Willi’s experience and background makes him a perfect fit to oversee the advancement of our manufacturing to commercial scale, while optimizing cost of goods.  As we enter late-stage development and begin preparing for launch, Willi will help us prepare for the commercial success of RLY5016.”

Dr. Stahl was a Managing Partner of Rondaxe Enterprises, providing consulting services and strategic advice to emerging pharmaceutical companies on CMC aspects of drug development, including supply chain management and strategic business support.  Until 2008, he was Head of the Pharma Custom Manufacturing business of Saltigo GmbH, a subsidiary of Lanxess AG.   Dr. Stahl began his career as a medicinal chemist with Hoechst AG, where he advanced to become Head of Global Screening.  After joining Bayer AG in 1999 as director of CNS discovery chemistry, he became Head of Life Sciences at Bayer’s Central Research Unit and thereafter, Head of Research and Development and Pharma Marketing and Sales for Bayer’s Fine Chemicals Division and for Lanxess, after its spinout from Bayer. Dr. Stahl earned both his undergraduate and Ph.D. degrees from the Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Bonn, and did his post-doctoral work with Dr. K.C. Nicolaou at the Research Institute of Scripps Clinic, Department of Chemistry in La Jolla, California.

Dr. Stahl commented, “I have worked with this team for many years and I am impressed by the strong data generated with RLY5016 to date.  It is rare to find a relatively low risk, manageable development program with such tremendous commercial potential.”

About RLY5016 and Hyperkalemia
Hyperkalemia is a condition frequently prevalent in patients that suffer from renal impairment, hypertension, diabetes and heart failure.  It is characterized by elevated serum potassium levels, which can lead to cardiac arrhythmia and sudden death.  Patients with chronic kidney disease are at particular risk for developing hyperkalemia, especially those treated with renin-angiotensin-aldosterone-system (RAAS) inhibitors.  Although RAAS inhibition has been shown to protect kidney and cardiac function, as well as prolong life, many patients who could benefit from RAAS inhibitors are untreated or undertreated due to the undesirable side effect of increasing serum potassium.

RLY5016 is a high capacity non-absorbed oral potassium binder being developed for the management of elevated serum potassium levels.  Relypsa has completed several clinical trials of RLY5016 that have demonstrated the preliminary efficacy, safety and tolerability of RLY5016 for the prevention of hyperkalemia.  A multi-center, open-label Phase 2b study of RLY5016 for the treatment of hyperkalemia in diabetic nephropathy patients with chronic kidney disease is ongoing.

About Relypsa, Inc.
Relypsa, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company leading the discovery and development of novel non-absorbed polymeric drugs for important applications in cardiovascular and renal diseases.  Relypsa's lead product candidate is RLY5016, a non-absorbed potassium binder for the treatment of hyperkalemia. Relypsa is pursuing the discovery of additional product candidates through use of its proprietary polymer platform.  Privately-held, Relypsa’s investors include:  OrbiMed Advisors, 5AM Ventures, Delphi Ventures, New Leaf Venture Partners, Sprout Group, Amgen and Mediphase Venture Partners.  More information is available at www.relypsa.com.

CONTACT: Relypsa, Inc.
Jim Johnson, CFO, SVP
PR "at" relypsa.com