Organisational changes

("Pronova BioPharma" or the "company") today announces changes in the group's organisation and management team.

 

With effect from 1 December 2009, business development and commercial affairs will be organised as two separate departments. Mr Hans Ivar Robinson, currently heading the combined business and commercial development function, has decided to seek new opportunities outside the company. The two departments will be headed by Mr Roger Tuen, who is appointed vice president commercial affairs, and Ms Hilde H. Steineger, who is appointed vice president business development.

 

The company is pleased to announce that Espen Tidemann Jørgensen is appointed vice president strategy and investor relations, and head of communications, to replace Hilde Steineger in her current position. Mr Jørgensen currently holds the position as equity analyst in DnB NOR Markets and has broad experience as an analyst covering life science companies. He will take up his new position in the first quarter of 2010.

 

CV's can be found at www.pronova.com/Home/About_us/Management_team/.

 

The new structure of the management team as of Q1 2010 will be as follows:

Morten Jurs, chief executive officer

Synne H. Røine, chief financial officer

Kjetil Olsen, senior vice president supply chain

Roger Tuen, vice president commercial affairs

Hilde H. Steineger, vice president business development

Cecilia Orheim, vice president legal affairs

Göran Gannedahl, vice president medical and regulatory affairs and

research & development

Hilde Merete Næss, vice president quality affairs

Knut Sandvold, vice president human resources

Espen T. Jørgensen, vice president strategy and investor relations, Head of Communications

 

 

Pronova BioPharma is a global leader in the research, development and manufacture of marine-originated omega-3 derived pharmaceutical products.  Pronova BioPharma's first commercialized product is branded as Omacor® in a number of countries throughout Europe and Asia and as LovazaTM in the United States.  The product is manufactured at the company's plant in Sandefjord, Norway using a unique and complex process.  A new manufacturing plant in Kalundborg, Denmark opened on 1 October 2009, which is  expected to start commercial deliveries in the first quarter of 2010.

 

Omacor®/Lovaza(TM) is the first and only EU- and FDA-approved omega-3 derived prescription drug.  The drug is prescribed as an adjunct to diet for the treatment of elevated levels of triglycerides in humans, a condition known as hypertriglyceridemia (HTG), a form of dyslipidemia (or disorder of lipid metabolism).  Very high triglycerides have been linked to a number of cardiovascular diseases.  Omacor® is also approved in key European and certain Asian markets for the secondary prevention of post-myocardial infarction, or Post-MI, the period following the initial survival of a heart attack.

 

Omacor®/Lovaza(TM) has been demonstrated in a number of clinical trials to be a potent triglyceride-lowering agent as a monotherapy.  It has been documented to be efficacious, safe, and highly complementary to other lipid-lowering agents, such as statins. In addition, Pronova BioPharma is involved in various projects to develop Omacor®/Lovaza(TM) in a number of cardiovascular indications, including as a combination therapy with statins for mixed dyslipidemia which management believe represents a major market opportunity for the Company.

 

Pronova BioPharma's global network of license and distribution partners includes: GlaxoSmithKline PLC (US), Takeda Pharmaceutical (Japan), Prospa (Italy) and Solvay (UK, Germany and others).  The combined sales force from this network focused on the sale of Omacor®/Lovaza(TM) is approximately 2,650 sales representatives.

 

Omacor®/Lovaza(TM) was launched in 2005 in the US and in major European markets, such as France and Spain. IMS Health reports that global end-user sales of the product have increased from US$144 million in 2005 to US$778 million in 2008.  The current annual run rate for end-user sales is estimated at US$953 million (as of December 2008), and the Company estimates that approximately 750,000 patients are currently on a prescription for Omacor/Lovaza.

 

Pronova BioPharma had revenues of NOK 1,302 million and EBITDA of NOK 603 million in 2008. The company is listed at Oslo Børs.  See www.pronova.com for more information.

 

Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are "forward-looking statements", which involve a number of risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements.  The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in earnings, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in the pharmaceutical industry including those factors which may affect our ability to manufacture our products, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, the regulatory environment in which we operate and unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry.  We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf.