Celtic Pharma Appoints Two New Senior Executives

HAMILTON, Bermuda, LONDON and NEW YORK, Nov. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Celtic Pharmaceutical Holdings LP ("Celtic Pharma"), the global private equity firm focused on the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, announced today that Celtic Pharma Development Services Bermuda Ltd ("CPDS") has appointed Bob Milsted as Managing Director and Head of European Development and Solomon Babani as Director of Contracts and Vendor Management.

Bob Milsted brings more than 11 years of experience in drug development to Celtic Pharma. He most recently served as Vice President of Global Regulatory Affairs for Oncology and Infection for AstraZeneca, where he managed the Iressa Compassionate Use program and the biotechnology collaboration with Abgenix. During the 10 years that he led the Oncology Clinical team, he was responsible for bringing a number of oncology products to market, including Zoladex, Casodex, Arimidex, Tomudex and Faslodex, as well as leading the Phase III program for the novel antipsychotic, Seroquel.

Solomon Babani comes to Celtic Pharma from Novartis Pharmaceuticals, where he served as Associate Director in the CRO Management group and was responsible for managing the outsourcing of global Phase II - IV clinical studies in a variety of therapeutic areas. Prior to that, he served as Manager of Contracts and Outsourcing at Pfizer, supporting Phase IIIB and IV clinical trials.

"Bob and Solomon are two key appointments that further strengthen the senior executive development team by bringing experience that will contribute to progressing Celtic's growing pipeline of late-stage products," said Stephen Evans-Freke and John Mayo, Managing General Partners of Celtic Pharma. "Bob's extensive background in global drug development will be a strong asset as we develop our product pipeline. Solomon's experience with managing outsourcing relationships makes him ideal as the individual charged with building and managing our business relationships with our Development outsourcing partners, an important component to our virtual pharma model."

About Celtic Pharma

Celtic Pharmaceutical Holdings L.P. is a global private equity investment firm focused on the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Celtic Pharma was founded by Stephen Evans-Freke and John Mayo, CBE and is based in Bermuda, with offices in New York and London. Celtic Pharma acquires and invests in late stage pharmaceutical programs and drives these programs through the final stages of regulatory approval. Celtic Pharma's aim is to bridge the gap between the established pharmaceutical companies' new product pipeline crisis and the biotech industry's capital drought. For further information, please visit Celtic Pharma's website at www.celticpharma.com.

Celtic Pharma Development Services Bermuda Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Celtic Pharma charged with the development of Celtic Pharma's portfolio of pharmaceutical programs.

CONTACT: Kathy Armstrong, Celtic Pharma, +1-212-616-4042,kathy@celticpharma.com; or Financial Dynamics: Matt Dallas,+1-212-850-5627, matt.dallas@fd.com, or David Yates / Anna Keeble,+44-20-7831-3113

Web site: http://www.celticpharma.com/