Peterson Joins Sienna Biopharmaceuticals as Chief Financial Officer

Sienna Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held, clinical-stage medical dermatology and aesthetics company, announced that Richard Peterson will join the company as Chief Financial Officer.  

Peterson, who brings more than two decades of global financial experience, will succeed John Smither, who is retiring at the end of April but will continue to serve Sienna in an advisory capacity. Peterson joins Sienna from Novan, Inc., where he served as Chief Financial Officer for the pharmaceutical dermatology company. Previously, he was the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation until the company's acquisition in 2012 by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., for $2.6 billion.

"We are pleased to welcome Ric to Sienna and look forward to his contributions as we advance our robust and diversified pipeline of topical biotech products," said Frederick C. Beddingfield III, M.D., Ph.D., Sienna's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Ric is an accomplished financial leader with a proven track record of creating value for medical dermatology and aesthetic companies that develop and market industry-leading products."

During Peterson's tenure at Medicis, the company achieved significant growth in revenue and profitability with a portfolio of top-selling medical and aesthetic products including SOLODYN® for acne and Restylane® and Dysport® for the treatment of facial wrinkles. Prior to Medicis, Peterson was a Senior Financial Auditor with PricewaterhouseCoopers. He holds a Bachelor of Science in accountancy from Arizona State University.

"I am delighted to join the Sienna team at such an exciting time for the company," Peterson said. "Sienna is poised, with innovative topical platform technologies, to address significant unmet needs and fundamentally change the treatment of dermal inflammation and aesthetic skin conditions, and I am eager to contribute to the company's success."

Sienna is developing first-in-class late-stage clinical candidates to create targeted safe and effective topical therapies that treat conditions such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, pruritus, acne vulgaris and unwanted light-pigmented hair with limited systemic exposure.

"I would like to recognize and thank John Smither, who has worked tirelessly to help establish Sienna and expand our portfolio," Dr. Beddingfield said. "John has been instrumental in securing financing and building a stellar finance team that sets Sienna up for success as we move forward. We are pleased that we will continue to benefit from his counsel."