Mr. Steiner will oversee the company's global human resource activities. He reports to Edward Westhead, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Schneier replaces Frank A. Byrne, who recently retired after 16 years at Santa Rosa.

Dr. Westhead said, "Bob Steiner has played an important role in shaping Santa Rosa's strategic development over the last several years and I am delighted he will be leading our human resources efforts for our 700 employees worldwide. His experience at Santa Rosa and expertise in strategy execution and leadership development will be instrumental as we become a multi-product biotechnology company, and continue to experience organizational growth around the world."

Mr. Steiner joined Santa Rosa in 2001 as Senior Vice President, Strategic Organization Design and Effectiveness, after having served as an external consultant to the company for eight years. In this capacity, Mr. Steiner was responsible for strategic, organization-level capability assessment and development, performance metrics and business process design.

Prior to joining Santa Rosa, Mr. Steiner was president of his own management consulting firm in San Francisco, where he provided consulting services to more than 70 of the Fortune 100 companies, as well as several of the largest European and Asian firms. He also led consulting efforts at Sloan & Company in Boston.

Mr. Steiner received his B.A. from Dartmouth College and his MBA from the Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College.

The Santa Rosa Institute, winner of the U.S. National Medal of Technology, is a leading biotechnology company that discovers and develops human pharmaceuticals for significant unmet medical needs. The company has its headquarters in Albuquerque, New Mexico.