8-K

 

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of Earliest Event Reported): October 11, 2004

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company
__________________________________________
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware	0-24274	33-0361285
_____________________ (State or other jurisdiction	_____________ (Commission	______________ (I.R.S. Employer
of incorporation)	File Number)	Identification No.)
6455 Nancy Ridge Drive, San Diego, CA		92121
_________________________________ (Address of principal executive offices)		___________ (Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code (858) 452-6600

Not Applicable
______________________________________________
Former name or former address, if changed since last report

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

[  ]  Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
[  ]  Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
[  ]  Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
[  ]  Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Item 5.02. Departure of Directors or Principal Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Principal Officers.

October 12, 2004, La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (the "Company") announced that Craig R. Smith, M.D. had been appointed to the Company's board of directors. Dr. Smith has also been appointed to the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee of the Board of Directors and to the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors. The press release announcing the appointment of Dr. Smith is attached hereto and incorporated herein.

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(c) Exhibits
The following exhibits are filed with this Current Report on Form 8-K:

Exhibit No. Description
99.1 Press Release

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

	La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (Registrant)
October 12, 2004	By:	Gail A. Sloan
		Name: Gail A. Sloan
		Title: Vice President of Finance and Secretary

Exhibit Index

Exhibit No.	Description
EX-99.1	Press Release

EX-99.1

LA JOLLA PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY APPOINTS
CRAIG SMITH M.D. TO ITS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

SAN DIEGO, October 12, 2004 — La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (Nasdaq: LJPC) today announced that Craig R. Smith, M.D., Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Guilford Pharmaceuticals, Inc., has joined its Board of Directors. Dr. Smith has been with Guilford since its inception more than a decade ago. With this addition, La Jolla’s board will increase to six members.

Dr. Smith, 58, joined Guilford at its inception in 1993 and has since led its growth into a fully integrated pharmaceutical company with two marketed products and two products in Phase 3 clinical trials. Prior to joining Guilford, Dr. Smith was Senior Vice President of Business and Market Development at Centocor, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company. Before joining Centocor, he served on the faculty of the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins Medical School. Dr. Smith received his M.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1972 and trained in Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital from 1972 to 1975. He currently serves on the boards of the Maryland Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Greater Baltimore Committee and the Greater Baltimore High Tech Council. Dr. Smith also serves as Chair for the Advisory Council for the Institute of Basic Biomedical Sciences at Johns Hopkins University and as a member of the Board of Directors at Depomed, Inc. and Excigen, Inc.

“We are very pleased to welcome Craig Smith to our Board of Directors,” said Steven B. Engle, Chairman and CEO. “Craig’s outstanding leadership at Guilford has enabled it to effectively market and sell two products while developing an advanced pipeline of promising drug candidates. His established track record and expertise will further strengthen and complement our current board expertise.”

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company is a biotechnology company developing therapeutics for antibody-mediated autoimmune diseases and inflammation afflicting several million people in the United States and Europe. The Company is developing Riquent^® for the treatment of lupus kidney disease, a leading cause of sickness and death in patients with lupus. The Company is also developing LJP 1082 for the treatment of antibody-mediated thrombosis, a condition in which patients suffer from recurrent stroke, deep-vein thrombosis, miscarriage and other thrombotic events, and is in the early stage of developing small molecules to treat various other autoimmune and inflammatory conditions. The Company’s common stock is traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol LJPC.

The forward-looking statements in this press release involve significant risks and uncertainties, and a number of factors, both foreseen and unforeseen, could cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations. Forward-looking statements include those that express a plan, belief, expectation, estimation, anticipation, intent, contingency, future development or similar expression. Even though our New Drug Application (“NDA”) for Riquent^® has been accepted by the United States Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) for review, and even though we have agreed with the FDA regarding the design of a potential Phase 4 trial and we have initiated the trial, there is no guarantee that the FDA will approve Riquent in a timely manner, or at all. The analyses of clinical results of Riquent, previously known as LJP 394, our drug candidate for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (“lupus”), and LJP 1082, our drug candidate for the treatment of antibody-mediated thrombosis (“thrombosis”), could result in a finding that these drug candidates are not effective in large patient populations, do not provide a meaningful clinical benefit, or may reveal a potential safety issue requiring us to develop new candidates. The analysis of the data from our Phase 3 trial of Riquent showed that the trial did not reach statistical significance with respect to its primary endpoint, time to renal flare, or with respect to the secondary endpoint, time to treatment with high-dose corticosteroids or cyclophosphamide. Although our NDA for Riquent has been accepted for review by the FDA, the results from our clinical trials of Riquent may not ultimately be sufficient to obtain regulatory clearance to market Riquent either in the United States or Europe, and we may be required to conduct additional clinical studies to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of Riquent in order to obtain marketing approval. There is no guarantee, however, that we will have the necessary resources to complete any additional trial or that any additional trial will sufficiently demonstrate the safety and efficacy of Riquent. Our blood test to measure the binding affinity for Riquent is experimental, has not been validated by independent laboratories and will likely be reviewed as part of the Riquent approval process. Our other potential drug candidates are at earlier stages of development and involve comparable risks. Analysis of our clinical trials could have negative or inconclusive results. Any positive results observed to date may not be indicative of future results. In any event, regulatory authorities may require additional clinical trials, or may not approve our drugs. Our ability to develop and sell our products in the future may be adversely affected by the intellectual property rights of third parties. Additional risk factors include the uncertainty and timing of: obtaining required regulatory approvals, including delays associated with any approvals that we may obtain; the clear need for additional financing; our ability to pass all necessary FDA inspections; the increase in capacity of our manufacturing capabilities for possible commercialization; successfully marketing and selling our products; our lack of manufacturing, marketing and sales experience; our ability to make use of the orphan drug designation for Riquent; generating future revenue from product sales or other sources such as collaborative relationships; future profitability; and our dependence on patents and other proprietary rights. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance upon forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date hereof. Interested parties are urged to review the risks described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003, and in other reports and registration statements that we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time.

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