OmniAb, Inc. announced the completion of the expected tax-free spin-off from Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated and the subsequent business combination with Avista Public Acquisition Corp. II, resulting in OmniAb becoming an independent publicly traded company. Concurrent with the completion of the OmniAb spin-off, former Ligand directors Jennifer Cochran, Ph.D., Sarah Boyce and Sunil Patel joined the OmniAb board.

Also appointed were Carolyn Bertozzi, Ph.D., Joshua Tamaroff and Matt Foehr, bringing the number of OmniAb directors to seven. Dr. Bertozzi has served at Stanford University since 2015 as the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Chemistry, a professor of Chemical and Systems Biology and Radiology and the Baker Family Co-Director of Stanford ChEM-H. Dr. Bertozzi has also served as an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute since 2000. Prior to Stanford, she was a professor of chemistry and molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Bertozzi previously was a director of Eli Lilly and Company. She holds an A.B. summa cum laude in chemistry from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Bertozzi was awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the 2022 Wolf Prize in Chemistry.

Mr. Tamaroff joined Avista Capital Partners (Avista) in 2009 and currently serves as a Partner. Prior to joining Avista, Mr. Tamaroff worked as an analyst in the leveraged finance group at Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital. Mr. Tamaroff currently serves as a director of Cosette Pharmaceuticals, GCM Holding Corporation, Probo Medical, Solmetex and United BioSource Corporation, and previously served as a director of InvestorPlace Media, IWCO Direct, OptiNose, Organogenesis Holdings and WideOpenWest.

Mr. Tamaroff received a B.S. from Cornell University and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Palmer Scholar.