Mr Pascoe succeeds David Hale, who has served as Somaxon’s interim CEO since January 2008. Mr Hale will continue as the company’s executive chairman of the board.
Prior to Somaxon, Mr Pascoe served as senior vice president and COO of Ariad Pharmaceuticals, a specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of oncology product candidates. Mr Pascoe received his BS degree in leadership studies from the US Military Academy at West Point.
Mr Hale said: “We are pleased to have Richard join Somaxon as we plan for the potential commercialization of our product candidate Silenor for the treatment of insomnia and the continued development of our business.”