
ARDANA APPOINTS TWO NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS
TO THE BOARD
Edinburgh, UK, 29 June 2004: Ardana Ltd, the emerging
pharmaceutical company focused on reproductive health, today announces
the appointments of Dr David Moran and Dr John Brown as Non-Executive
Directors, with immediate effect.
Dr David Moran has worked in the pharmaceutical
sector for over 35 years and has been involved with a number of
successful drug registration programmes. He started his career
at Beecham Pharmaceuticals in the fields of anti-infective and
immunological research, later holding senior roles in drug development
at Beecham and then at SmithKline Beecham, and leaving the company
as Vice President of Worldwide Clinical Operations in 1993. He
went on to become Senior Vice President, Research and Development
at Beaufour IPSEN Pharmaceuticals where he led the consolidation
and restructuring of a new pan-European and US R&D organisation.
More recently, Dr Moran has acted as an independent advisor to
a variety of emerging pharmaceutical and investment companies,
work that was undertaken whilst David was Principal Associate
at Mansford Associates, a private healthcare consultancy. Dr Moran
is currently a member of the Bloomsbury Seed Fund Advisory Board.
Until late 2003, Dr John Brown was Chief Executive of the FTSE
250 biotech company Acambis plc, a leading producer of vaccines
to treat and prevent infectious disease. Dr Brown joined Acambis
as Finance Director in 1995 and was appointed CEO in 1997. In
1999 he was responsible for the $20 million acquisition of OraVax
Inc, a Boston, US-based vaccines company, together with a £23
million rights issue. In 2001 he led Acambis' successful bid for
the second US smallpox vaccine supply contract to the US government
in partnership with Baxter International. Dr Brown managed Acambis
through the flotation process and on to profitability. Dr Brown
currently Chairs the Governing Council of the Roslin Institute
in Edinburgh and is a Non-Executive Director of a number of private
and public biotech companies.
Simon Best, Chairman of Ardana, commented:
"John was a Non-Executive Director of my previous company,
Roslin BioMed. I am delighted to have the opportunity to work
with him again and to have both his and David's expertise to draw
upon. Both have a fantastic range of experience within the biotech
and pharmaceutical sectors and will make significant contributions
to Ardana at this key stage in our development. I am delighted
to welcome them to the Board."
For more information please contact: Simon Best,
Ardana 44 (0)131 226 8550
Julia Phillips / Francetta Carr, Financial Dynamics (corporate
and financial media relations) 44 (0)20 7831 3113
Nicki Brimicombe, NB Public Relation, (trade and technical
media relations) 44 (0)1883 732353
Notes for Editors
Ardana Limited is an emerging pharmaceutical
company focused on reproductive health. It aims to become a leading
source of clinical and commercial innovation in the $20 billion
human reproductive health market, which is growing at 9% per annum.
In addition to Striant™ SR, which Ardana recently launched in
the UK as a treatment for men with primary or secondary hypogonadism,
the company has just secured marketing and manufacturing rights
in Europe and EFTA for Invicorp®, a patented combination drug
treatment for male erectile dysfunction. Ardana also has a rich
development portfolio including the Gonadotrophin Releasing Hormone
(GnRH)-antagonist, Teverelix LA, in Phase II trials in patients
with prostate cancer and benign prostate hyperplasia; Chronodyne®
(terbutaline) which is in Phase I/II trials for endometriosis-related
infertility (being developed in collaboration with Columbia Laboratories
(NASDAQ: CBRX) and a reformulation of the GnRH analog 'Leuprorelin'
which has completed Phase II trials for prostate cancer. www.ardana.co.uk
Ardana's therapeutic interests encompass androgen replacement,
prostatic disease, infertility, sexual dysfunction and obstetrics.
The company has exclusive rights to commercialise research by
the Medical Research Council (MRC)'s Human Reproductive Sciences
Unit (HRSU) in Edinburgh, Scotland, which has been at the forefront
of this area of research for the last 30 years. The HRSU contributes
a significant number of early stage development projects to the
Ardana development portfolio, which complement later stage and
marketed products. The MRC employs nearly 100 staff at the Unit,
which currently receives total annual funding of £3.8 million.
Ardana has raised £43.4 million in four funding rounds.
Ardana investors include DVC Deutsche Venture Capital, Albany
Venture Managers Limited and 3i Bioscience Investment Trust, Merlin
Biosciences Limited, MVM Limited (MVM), Techno Venture Management
(TVM), ABN-AMRO Participates, 3i Group plc, ISIS Equity Partners
plc, Scottish Widows Investment Partnership Ltd, Saffron Hill
Ventures, Mitsubishi Corporation and Green Highlander, LLC.
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