MLA Places Shawnte Mitchell as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Zogenix, Inc.

Hanover, MD (May 5, 2020) — Major, Lindsey & Africa (MLA), the world’s leading legal search firm, today announced the placement of Shawnte Mitchell as executive vice president and general counsel at Zogenix, Inc. in Emeryville, Calif. The search was conducted by Joanna Herman, managing director in San Diego, and Carol Warren Simon, managing director in San Francisco, both of MLA’s In-House Counsel Recruiting group.

Zogenix (Nasdaq: ZGNX) is a global pharmaceutical company committed to developing and commercializing therapies with the potential to transform the lives of patients and their families living with rare diseases.

Reporting directly to CEO Stephen J. Farr, Shawnte will be responsible for leading the company’s legal team, manage certain corporate affairs and compliance, and serve as a member of the Zogenix Executive Team.

“We are thrilled to have placed Shawnte at this transformational time for the company,” said Joanna Herman, “and are glad that the company saw her prior experience as a public company general counsel and ability to build a legal department as instrumental to their vision for this role.”

Shawnte most recently served as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate affairs for Aptevo Therapeutics Inc., acting as one of the principal senior leaders for the biotech start-up, responsible for managing the legal, compliance and human resources functions in support of the company’s global activities. Prior to Aptevo, she was vice president, associate general counsel and assistant corporate secretary at Emergent BioSolutions Inc. Shawnte began her career as an associate with Ropes & Gray in Washington, D.C. She is currently an advisory board member with the Stanford Women on Boards Initiative and a board member for the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle and the ArtsFund.