WATERLOO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – June 23, 2015) – BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ:BBRY)(TSX:BB), a global leader in mobile communications, today announced that it has appointed Laurie Smaldone Alsup, M.D., President and Chief Scientific Officer of PharmApprove, to the Company’s Board of Directors, with effect as of the end of BlackBerry’s annual and special shareholder meeting today. Dr. Smaldone Alsup will also serve as a member of the audit and risk management committee of the Board of Directors, taking over from current director Claudia Kotchka, who is not standing for re-election at the shareholder meeting.

“I am pleased to welcome Dr. Laurie Smaldone Alsup to our Board of Directors. Dr. Smaldone Alsup’s expertise in the pharmaceutical industry aligns very well with our focus on regulated industries, and will be a great benefit to BlackBerry and to the Board,” said John Chen, Executive Chairman and CEO of BlackBerry.

With the addition of Dr. Smaldone Alsup, the Company’s Board of Directors remains at seven members, six of whom are independent members.

Dr. Smaldone Alsup has 25 years of executive leadership experience in drug development, regulatory strategy, and regulatory approvals in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. She is President and Chief Scientific Officer of PharmApprove, a strategic, regulatory, and scientific communications consultancy to the pharmaceutical and biotech industries in the US, Canada and Europe. She previously served in clinical and regulatory roles of increasing responsibility and scope while at Bristol Myers Squibb, including Senior Vice President of Global Regulatory Science, Vice President of Infectious Diseases Clinical Research, and also as Director of Cancer Clinical Research. She has led the development and commercialization of drugs for life threatening and chronic diseases including cancer, HIV/AIDS, viral and bacterial infection, cardiovascular, endocrine, neuroscience, dermatology, inflammatory and immune-based diseases. In addition, she served as CEO of Phytomedics, an early stage biopharmaceutical company focused on arthritis and inflammation.

Dr. Smaldone Alsup received her M.D. degree at Yale University, where she completed her residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Medical Oncology.