RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NASDAQ: RXII), a clinical-stage RNAi company developing innovative therapeutics that address significant unmet medical needs, announced today that its Board of Directors has appointed Dr. Jonathan Freeman as an independent director of the Company, effectively immediately. In addition, he will be a member of the Company's Audit and Nominating committees.

"RXi Pharmaceuticals' self-delivering RNAi (sd-rxRNA) technology is one of the most innovative developments in the space," said Dr. Jonathan Freeman. "I feel privileged to join this exciting and dynamic team and look forward to working with the Company to advance its proprietary technology platform as interest and momentum grows in the development of novel, cell-based immunotherapies to treat cancer."

Dr. Jonathan Freeman serves as the Chief Business Officer at Vedanta Biosciences, a privately-held company developing a class of drugs that work by modulating the human microbiome, with an initial emphasis in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Previously, Dr. Freeman was Senior Vice President, Head of Strategy Development and Portfolio Management at Merck KGaA. During his tenure, Jonathan was responsible for the portfolio and strategic shift that repositioned Merck as a major player in the immuno-oncology space. Prior to that role, he was the Head of Global Business Development and Licensing at Merck executing more than 30 transactions and structured financings. Prior to his roles at Merck, Jonathan served in senior positions at Baxter and Serono, in M&A and, Corporate and Business Development, respectively. Jonathan holds a First Class Honours in Biochemistry and an MA from Cambridge University, UK, a PhD in cancer research from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now CRUK), and an MBA with a finance major from Webster University, St. Louis. He held various post-doctoral positions in the Swiss Institute for Cancer Research (ISREC), and the Geneva Medical School (CMU).

"Jonathan is an established leader in the biotechnology space with a breadth of experience across business and clinical development who will add a valuable perspective to our Board of Directors," said Mr. Robert Bitterman, Chairman, RXi Pharmaceuticals' Board of Directors. He further added that, "With the recent expansion of the Company's pipeline in immuno-oncology, the team will greatly benefit from his knowledge and insightful guidance."

About RXi Pharmaceuticals

RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NASDAQ: RXII) is a clinical-stage company developing innovative therapeutics that address significant unmet medical needs. Building on the pioneering discovery of RNAi, scientists at RXi have harnessed the naturally occurring RNAi process which has the ability to "silence" or down-regulate the expression of a specific gene that may be overexpressed in a disease condition. RXi developed a robust RNAi therapeutic platform including self-delivering RNA (sd-rxRNA) compounds that have the ability to highly selectively block the expression of any target in the genome, thus providing applicability to many therapeutic areas. Our current programs include dermatology, ophthalmology and cell-based immunotherapy. RXi's extensive patent portfolio provides for multiple product and business development opportunities across a broad spectrum of therapeutic areas and we actively pursue research collaborations, partnering and out-licensing opportunities with academia and pharmaceutical companies. Additional information may be found on the Company's website, www.rxipharma.com.