KANSAS CITY, Kan. and NEW YORK, Oct. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Aratana Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative medicines for cats and dogs (companion animals), today announced it has appointed technology entrepreneur and seasoned executive Robert "Rip" Gerber as an independent Director on Aratana's Board of Directors. Mr. Gerber has a successful track record of positioning companies with new, innovative business platforms for success in rapidly growing markets.

Steven St. Peter, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Aratana Therapeutics, stated, "We are already benefitting from Rip's keen entrepreneurial spirit, enthusiasm, and experience as an accomplished executive. His leadership roles in both private and public companies make him an asset to Aratana's Board of Directors."

Mr. Gerber stated, "I see Aratana as an industry pioneer, based upon the Company's expertise and willingness to blaze a new trail in companion animal therapeutics. I am attracted to this business platform because it not only fulfills an important medical need for pets and pet owners, but also represents a tremendous opportunity for the biotech and pharmaceutical community to increase the value of their pipelines."

Mr. Gerber is the founder, President and CEO of Locaid, a developer of "Location-as-a-Service" (LaaS), and built Locaid into world's largest LaaS platform. He has served in senior executive roles at several public and private companies. Prior to Locaid, Mr. Gerber led the restructuring, repositioning and re-branding of Intellisync, a wireless software company. Mr. Gerber was instrumental in orchestrating Intellisync's acquisition by NOKIA for $480M in 2006, where he served as Chief Marketing Officer and head of Ecommerce and Business Development. Mr. Gerber also co-founded Commtouch where he served as Chief Marketing Officer and ultimately helped take the company public in 1999. Earlier in his career, Mr. Gerber founded @once, an email marketing company that was acquired by InfoUSA. Mr. Gerber holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Virginia.

About Aratana Therapeutics

Aratana Therapeutics is a company uniquely positioned to deliver high quality new medicines that address significant therapeutic needs for cats and dogs (companion animals). Aratana licenses and develops proprietary, patent-protected compounds acquired from human pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and then develops strategies to maximize the value of the programs for the animal health market. For more information, please visit www.aratanatherapeutics.com.

For Media & Investors:
Jason Rando / Joshua Drumm, Ph.D.
Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc.
(212) 827-0020
jrando@tiberend.com
jdrumm@tiberend.com

SOURCE Aratana Therapeutics

Web Site: http://www.aratanatherapeutics.com