Onyx Names Laura A. Brege Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer

EMERYVILLE, Calif., June 12  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ONXX) today announced the appointment of Laura Brege as executive vice president and chief business officer.  In this newly created position, Ms. Brege will be responsible for Finance, Business Development, Legal, Human Resources, and Investor Relations functions and will report to Hollings C. Renton, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Onyx.

"Onyx's growth is fueling the need for additional executive talent," said Mr. Renton.  "Laura's established expertise in strategic finance, corporate development, and operations will be critical in building Onyx's oncology business."

Most recently Ms. Brege was a General Partner at Red Rock Management, a venture capital firm specializing in early stage financing for technology companies.  Prior to Red Rock, she was the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at COR Therapeutics, a biotechnology company that specialized in drug therapies for cardiovascular disease.  While at COR, Ms. Brege was instrumental in helping the company grow from a research and development start-up to an operations-based enterprise with a commercialized product.  She was also a member of the management team that negotiated multiple corporate partnerships, including a worldwide co-promotion agreement for COR's lead product, as well as corporate partnerships for earlier programs and products with J&J, Eli Lilly, and Solvay.  Before joining COR, Ms. Brege was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Flextronics, a multi-billion dollar electronics manufacturer.  She was also Vice President and Treasurer of The Cooper Companies, a Fortune 500 diversified company with operations worldwide.  Ms. Brege earned her undergraduate degree from Ohio University and has an MBA from the University of Chicago.

About Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is engaged in the development of novel cancer therapies that target the molecular basis of cancer.  With its collaborators, the company is developing small molecule drugs, including Nexavar with Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation.  For more information about Onyx's pipeline and activities, visit the company's web site at: http://www.onyx-pharm.com/.

NOTE:  Nexavar(R) (sorafenib) tablets is a registered trademark of Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding the development and the commercial launch of Nexavar(R) (sorafenib) tablets.  These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events to differ from the company's expectations.  These risks are addressed in the company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004, as amended, and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.  Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date of this release.  The company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date of this release except as required by law. 

DATASOURCE: Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.



CONTACT:  Julie Wood of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., [phone]



Web site:  http://www.onyx-pharm.com/

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