COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Jan. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascendis Pharma A/S announced today that Thomas P. Soloway has been appointed Chief Financial Officer.  Mr. Soloway joins the company after holding the positions of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Transcept Pharmaceuticals, Inc.<br /><br />"Tom's strong background in both the US capital markets and operating positions will be an important asset to Ascendis," stated Jan Moller Mikkelsen, Chief Executive Officer.  "Tom will play a key leadership role as we continue to execute on our strategic plan.  Tom joins our organization at a particularly exciting time. In addition to our large pharma partnerships in diabetes, pulmonary arterial hypertension and ophthalmology, we recently initiated a Phase 2 trial with our human growth hormone product in children, and launched a new initiative in the large and growing osteoarthritis market."<br /><br />Mr. Soloway said, "What attracts me to Ascendis is its experienced leadership team, a strong pipeline of development stage programs, and a clinically proven prodrug technology platform that has been commercially validated by large pharma partnerships.  I am excited to join a company with a track record of strong execution and look forward to contributing to our continued growth."<br /><br />Mr. Soloway joins Ascendis from Transcept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he was a co-founder of the company and served initially as Chief Financial Officer and later as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.  In these roles, Mr. Soloway led all investor relations activities and was a key member of the executive management team overseeing clinical development, regulatory affairs, pharmaceutical sciences, manufacturing and all financial activities.  Mr. Soloway led Transcept through its transition from a private to public company and raised more than $200 million for Transcept during his tenure.  Earlier in his career, Mr. Soloway was a Principal at Montreux Equity Partners, a life sciences focused venture capital firm. Mr. Soloway received a Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurial Studies from the University of Southern California and a Masters of Business Administration from Georgetown University.<br /><br />About Ascendis Pharma<br /><br />Ascendis Pharma develops differentiated prodrug versions of high-value drugs. The company's proprietary TransCon technology is used to generate product candidates that are improved versions of existing drugs, yielding more effective, lower-risk therapeutics with new patent life.<br /><br />Ascendis Pharma has a diversified and balanced high-value pipeline. Ascendis has strategic partnerships with Sanofi in diabetes, United Therapeutics in pulmonary arterial hypertension and an undisclosed market leader in the field of ophthalmology. 