2nd Feb 2006 07:01
Skyepharma PLC02 February 2006 For Immediate Release 2 February 2006 SkyePharma PLC Appointment of New Chairman and Outcome of Strategic Review LONDON, UK, 2 February 2006 - SkyePharma PLC (LSE: SKP; Nasdaq: SKYE) announcesthat following a review of internal and external candidates, it has appointed DrArgeris ("Jerry") Karabelas as Non-executive Chairman. The Company alsoannounces that its Strategic Review has been concluded. Dr Karabelas, aged 53, has had a distinguished career at senior levels in theglobal pharmaceuticals industry, including Chief Executive of Novartis Pharmaand prior to that President of the North American operations of SmithKlineBeecham. He is currently an executive director of Care Capital, a specialist UShealthcare investment fund, and is non-executive chairman of severalpharmaceutical and healthcare companies including Human Genome Sciences. DrKarabelas has been a non-executive director of SkyePharma since 2000 and hisfamiliarity with the Company's business will enable him to make an immediatecontribution as Chairman. The Strategic Review was initiated in November 2005. As part of this process,Lehman Brothers was retained by the Board to solicit potential expressions ofinterest for the Company. As foreshadowed in the announcement of 11 January2006, there has not been an offer for the Company as a whole that the Boardfeels able to recommend to shareholders. However the Board has concluded that inthe interests of returning the Company to sustainable profitability in theshortest possible time, SkyePharma should concentrate on oral and pulmonaryproducts and divest the injectable business interests, for which a number ofpotential purchasers were identified during the Strategic Review. Any suchdivestment will be subject to approval by shareholders. The injectables business, primarily located in San Diego, consists of twomarketed products, DepoCyt(R) for a complication of cancer and Depodur(R) forthe treatment of post-surgical pain, and a pipeline of projects in variousstages of development. These include controlled-release injectable formulationsof a number of biological products and DepoBupivacaineTM, a long-actinginjectable formulation of the local anaesthetic bupivacaine for the control ofpost-operative pain. DepoBupivacaineTM has completed Phase II development andwill commence Phase III trials shortly. It has been licenced to Mundipharma forall territories outside North American and Japan and to Maruho for Japan. TheBoard remains convinced that DepoBupivacaineTM addresses an important area ofunmet medical need and has major commercial potential. However the Board isconscious of the fact that a substantial investment in clinical developmentwould be required to maximise the potential of DepoBupivacaineTM and of thebiologicals pipeline. This development investment, together with the associatedinvestment in manufacturing capacity, would not only place a significant burdenon the Company's current resources but also impact the Company's profitabilityfor several years. The Company believes that the injectables business is a valuable asset and thefunds raised by its divestment will be available to enhance the core oral andpulmonary business, including accelerating the development of certain pipelineproducts. The residual core business will consist of the oral and pulmonaryproducts business, with development based in Muttenz, Switzerland andmanufacture in Muttenz and in Lyon, France. There are seven marketed oral andpulmonary products, including Paxil CRTM, Xatral(R) OD and TriglideTM, and anumber of late-stage products that are close to the market. The pipelineincludes SkyePharma's most important pipeline project FlutiformTM, a combinationasthma product that will enter Phase III development in the next few days. Moredetails of the product portfolio and pipeline will be disclosed at the Company'sR&D Days. These had to be postponed during the Strategic Review and reviseddates will be announced shortly. Dr Karabelas said: "I am honoured to take on the role of Chairman and lookforward implementing our new strategic initiatives particularly given mybackground in the development of oral and respiratory products. I am veryenthusiastic about FlutiformTM and confident I can make an importantcontribution to its future success. I also relish the opportunity to helprebuild shareholder confidence." The conclusion of the Strategic Review and the fact that the Company is nolonger in discussions nor seeking to pursue discussions with any partyconcerning an offer for the Company as a whole means that the Company is nolonger in an "Offer Period" as defined by the UK Takeover Panel. Furtherannouncements will be made in due course about the ongoing initiatives toreinforce the Company's executive management team. For further information please contact:SkyePharma PLCMichael Ashton, Chief Executive +44 207 491 1777Peter Laing, Director of Corporate Communications +44 207 491 5124Sandra Haughton, US Investor Relations +1 212 753 5780 Buchanan Communications +44 207 466 5000Tim Anderson / Mark Court About SkyePharma SkyePharma PLC develops pharmaceutical products benefiting from world-leadingdrug delivery technologies that provide easier-to-use and more effective drugformulations. There are now eleven approved products incorporating SkyePharma'stechnologies in the areas of oral, injectable, inhaled and topical delivery,supported by advanced solubilisation capabilities. For more information, visitwww.skyepharma.com. Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking statements and aremade in reliance on the safe harbour provisions of the U.S. Private SecuritiesLitigation Act of 1995. Although SkyePharma believes that the expectationsreflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give noassurance that these expectations will materialize. Because the expectations aresubject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may vary significantly fromthose expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements based upon a numberof factors, which are described in SkyePharma's 20-F and other documents on filewith the SEC. Factors that could cause differences between actual results andthose implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this news releaseinclude, without limitation, risks related to the development of new products,risks related to obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval for existing, newor expanded indications of existing and new products, risks related toSkyePharma's ability to manufacture products on a large scale or at all, risksrelated to SkyePharma's and its marketing partners' ability to market productson a large scale to maintain or expand market share in the face of changes incustomer requirements, competition and technological change, risks related toregulatory compliance, the risk of product liability claims, risks related tothe ownership and use of intellectual property, and risks related toSkyePharma's ability to manage growth. SkyePharma undertakes no obligation torevise or update any such forward-looking statement to reflect events orcircumstances after the date of this release. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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