Pappas Capital Announces the Passing of…

WALTHAM, Mass., April 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage epigenetics oncology company, announced Arthur M. Pappas will join the board of directors.

"We are delighted to have Art Pappas join the Syndax board given his rich background as a former senior level pharmaceutical executive and as a highly experienced life science venture capital investor," said Dennis Podlesak, chairman of the Syndax board of directors. "As Syndax advances into this exciting growth period and we build out the company to support the global phase 3 initiative, Art's leadership and extensive experience will be an invaluable asset."

"With the impressive overall survival results seen in the breast cancer population, entinostat represents a promising medicine for the Syndax team to lead its development," said Mr. Pappas. "This is an important time as the company prepares to move in to phase 3 clinical testing. As the phase 2 trials are confirmed, entinostat could be a promising new treatment option for women with ER positive metastatic breast cancer. I am pleased to be part of this effort."

Mr. Pappas is the founder and managing partner of Pappas Ventures, a Research Triangle Park, North Carolina-based venture capital firm that invests nationally in the life science industry. Mr. Pappas and his team of investment, biotechnology and medical experts manage over $350 million and oversee investments in more than 40 portfolio companies. Prior to founding Pappas Ventures in 1994, Mr. Pappas held senior level leadership positions at several multinational pharmaceutical companies. He was an executive member of the board of directors of Glaxo Holdings plc, for which he was the chief executive responsible for international operations including research, development and manufacturing. He previously was vice president of commercial operations for Abbott International Ltd., and he held various executive positions with Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals and the Dow Chemical Company, in the United States and internationally. In addition to Syndax, Mr. Pappas is a director of Afferent Pharmaceuticals, Inc., CardioDx, Inc., CeNeRx, Inc., Chimerex, Inc., CoLucid, Inc., and TyRx, Inc. He was also involved in Plexxikon, Inc. which was sold to Daiichi Sankyo last year. Mr. Pappas received his BS degree in Biology from Ohio State University and his MBA in Finance from Xavier University.

About Syndax
Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a Waltham, MA-based, late-stage, oncology-focused pharmaceutical company. The company is building a portfolio of new oncology products to extend and improve the lives of patients by developing and commercializing novel cancer therapies in optimized, mechanistically driven combination regimens. Syndax has worldwide rights to develop and commercialize entinostat which has shown promise in randomized clinical trials in breast and lung cancers and in phase 2 clinical trials in Hodgkin's lymphoma. Syndax is backed by top-tier venture capital firms Domain Associates, MPM Capital, Avalon, Pappas and Forward Ventures. Formed in 2005, Syndax's intellectual property is based on work from scientific founder Ronald Evans, Ph.D., recipient of the 2004 Albert Lasker Prize for Basic Medical Research, a Member of the National Academy of Sciences, a professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. For more information please visit www.syndax.com.

Syndax Contact Information
E. Blair Schoeb
Phone: 908.277.0386
Email: bschoeb@syndax.com