Alliance Pharma plc (AIM: APH), the emerging speciality pharmaceutical company, is pleased to announce that it sponsored a one-day symposium on misoprostol, the synthetic prostaglandin analogue, at this week’s  6th International Scientific Meeting of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists  in Cairo, Egypt, which was attended by more than 1800 delegates.

The symposium, titled Misoprostol: New Horizons in Maternal Health, included papers and discussions on the history of misoprostol in obstetrics, the evidence behind its efficacy and safety and its dosage selection. Three of the papers were delivered by members of Alliance Pharma’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).

The symposium was chaired by Dr Hazem El Refaey, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist and senior lecturer at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and Imperial College School of Medicine, London, and by Professor Charles Rodeck, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at University College, London.

Dr El Refaey, who has been studying the obstetric applications of misoprostol since the early 1990s, commented that the profession was encouraged that Alliance Pharma had taken on the development of misoprostol for induction of labour and that its availability was eagerly awaited.

Alliance Pharma is currently conducting Phase III clinical trials of Isprelor™, its misoprostol 25 mcg vaginal tablets for the induction of labour, in a study of more than 1000 patients in which the drug is compared with dinoprostone, the current standard treatment.

Isprelor is expected to be ready for launch during 2006. Across Europe there are approximately 700,000 induced births a year and the market is currently estimated to have an annual value of £13 million.

Misoprostol was launched in the late 1980s as an anti-ulcerant but it was soon noted that the drug caused uterine contractions in pregnant women. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists called for the development of a misoprostol product suitable for obstetric use in 2001.

Commenting on the symposium, John Dawson, Alliance Pharma’s Chief Executive, said: “Our symposium here in Cairo has been an outstanding success.  The presentations, given by international leaders in the field of obstetrics, created a great deal of interest.  Additionally, the event has firmly established Alliance Pharma’s name with this key audience as we move towards commercialisation of Isprelor.”

For further information:

Alliance Pharma plc             + 44 (0) 1249 466966
John Dawson, Chief Executive 
Maddy Scott, Finance Director 
www.alliancepharma.co.uk

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

Notes to editors

About Alliance Pharma
Alliance Pharma, founded in 1996, is an AIM listed emerging speciality pharmaceutical company based in Chippenham, Wiltshire, UK. The company has a strong track record of acquiring the rights to established niche brands and owns, or shares, the rights to 30 branded pharmaceutical products and continues to explore opportunities to expand the range.

Alliance Pharma's products are prescribed in the treatment of a wide range of conditions and include brands used in periodontitis (a serious gum disease), the prevention of heart disease, in Parkinson's disease, in nutrition, in nasal infections, in the treatment of dermatological conditions and in childbirth.  Alliance Pharma's sales are mainly prescription driven.  Its products are distributed to hospitals directly and to pharmaceutical wholesalers which service both hospital and retail pharmacies with their prescription requirements.

Alliance Pharma is also developing novel products for sleep disorders and the induction of labour.

Alliance Pharma joined the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in December 2003 and trades under the symbol APH.