7th Jun 2005 07:00
Vernalis PLC07 June 2005 7 June 2005 Vernalis Appoints Sylvia McBrinn to Head U.S. Commercial Operations Vernalis plc (LSE: VER, NASDAQ: VNLS) is pleased to announce the appointment ofSylvia McBrinn as Senior Vice President to head the commercial activities of theCompany in the United States. Her appointment to this newly created positionfollows Vernalis' announcement in February 2005 regarding its intention toestablish a U.S. commercial infrastructure through the exercise of its optionwith Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. to co-promote Vernalis' migraine drug frovatriptan, marketed as Frova(R) in the U.S. by Endo. Vernalis licensed exclusive North American sales and marketing rights for Frova(R) to Endo in July 2004. Under the terms of the agreement Endo will providefunding for and assist in the establishment of the Vernalis sales team of up to25 specialty neurology sales representatives for up to 5 years, beginning 1stJanuary 2006. Ms. McBrinn brings more than 25 years of pharmaceutical sales and marketingexperience to Vernalis, most recently serving as Executive Vice President,Branded Pharmaceuticals, at Andrx. Prior to that, Ms. McBrinn was employed byPharmacia as Global Vice President of Marketing for Bextra(R), where she wasinstrumental in leading one of the most successful launches in the U.S. She alsowas recognised for her leadership in growing market share for Mirapex(R)/Mirapexin(R) whilst serving as Global Vice President, Marketing, for neurologyproducts. Simon Sturge, CEO of Vernalis, said, "We are delighted to have attracted such anexperienced professional to lead our U.S. operation. Sylvia brings a wealth ofexpertise to this role which will enable us to accelerate the development ofVernalis' U.S. operation and sales team." Sylvia McBrinn commented, "I am very pleased to join Vernalis' management teamduring this growth phase and expansion in the U.S. This is an exciting time forthe Company and I am looking forward to leading the effort to build a U.S.presence. We are building a sales team around Frova(R) and will be activelyseeking other complementary products for our new sales team to promote." - ends - Enquiries: Vernalis plc +44 (0) 118 977 3133 Simon Sturge, Chief ExecutiveTony Weir, Chief Financial OfficerJulia Wilson, Head of Corporate Communications Brunswick Group +44 (0) 20 7404 5959 Jon ColesWendel VerbeekLaure Korenian-Chabert Safe Harbour statement: this news release may contain forward-looking statementsthat reflect the Company's current expectations regarding future events.Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual events coulddiffer materially from those projected herein and depend on a number of factorsincluding the success of the Company's research strategies, the applicability ofthe discoveries made therein, the successful and timely completion of clinicalstudies, the uncertainties related to the regulatory process, the successfulintegration of completed mergers and acquisitions and achievement of expectedsynergies from such transactions, and the ability of the Company to identify andconsummate suitable strategic and business combination transactions. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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