Alliance Pharma plc (AIM: APH), an emerging speciality pharmaceutical company, is pleased to announce it has made two key management appointments to drive the Company’s growth in the dental and international markets. The appointments follow the acquisition last year of two major product opportunities: Periostat®, for a severe form of gum disease, and Forceval®, a prescription-only multivitamin brand.

Glynys Davies has been appointed Head of Alliance Pharma’s newly formed Dental Products Division, which will focus on the marketing of Periostat and other dental products. Glynys, aged 31, qualified in Sales and Marketing at Cape Technikon, Cape Town, South Africa, and has held senior marketing positions with Dentsply, one of the world’s largest dental products companies, and 3i Implant Innovations, a world leader in dental implants.

Alliance acquired the marketing rights to Periostat in November 2004 from CollaGenex International, part of CollaGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc (Nasdaq: CGPI), for the territories of the enlarged European Union, Switzerland, Israel, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Periostat is the first and only approved oral pharmaceutical product for the adjunctive treatment of adult periodontal disease, or periodontitis, by the inhibition of those enzymes that destroy periodontal support tissues.

In the US, Periostat has achieved sales of $45 million. In the UK alone it is estimated that periodontitis affects 11 per cent of the adult population.

Alexander Scholtens Weert has been appointed Head of Alliance Pharma’s newly formed International Division. Alexander, aged 40, graduated in Marketing and Management from The Amsterdam School of Business and has held marketing positions with Eli Lilly and Roche and at medical devices company MiniMed, where he became Marketing Director of Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Alexander will drive the internationalisation of Periostat and of Forceval, a range of licensed multivitamin and mineral supplements prescribed and reimbursed by the National Health Service in the UK. Alliance Pharma acquired the Forceval range in November last year and has marketing rights to all territories excluding China.

Commenting on the appointments, John Dawson, Alliance Pharma’s Chief Executive, said: “I am delighted to welcome both Glynys and Alexander to the Company. These are key appointments for driving the growth of the recently acquired Periostat and Forceval brands, both of which offer considerable potential in the UK and overseas.”

For further information:

Alliance Pharma plc
John Dawson, Chief Executive
Maddy Scott, Finance Director
+ 44 (0) 1249 466966

Numis Securities
Charles Spicer
+ 44 (0) 20 7776 1500

Buchanan Communications
Mark Court/Lisa Baderoon/Rebecca Skye Dietrich
+ 44 (0) 20 7466 5000