Circassia Limited Announces the Appointment of Sir Richard Sykes as Chairman of the Board

OXFORD, England, July 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Circassia Ltd, a specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on controlling immune system responses, today announced the appointment of Sir Richard Sykes as Chairman of the Board. Sir Richard succeeds Charles Swingland who held the post of Executive Chairman following the establishment of the business earlier this year. Mr Swingland will remain with Circassia as Deputy Chairman and General Counsel.

"We are delighted to welcome Sir Richard to the Board during this period of exciting growth for Circassia," said Charles Swingland, Circassia's Deputy Chairman. "Sir Richard brings an incomparable wealth of experience and strategic vision to the business having led one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies for many years. With Sir Richard now Rector at Imperial College London, where our lead technology was originally developed, his appointment is a particularly strong endorsement for Circassia."

"Having spent many years promoting UK science and technology, I am extremely pleased to join Circassia, which I believe has the potential to transform the treatment of conditions resulting from immune system dysfunction," said Sir Richard Sykes, Chairman of Circassia. "Having worked with many of the highly experienced management team previously, and based on my familiarity with the Circassia technology developed originally at Imperial, I believe the company's prospects are excellent. I look forward to working with the team over the coming years to build a broad based, world-class company."

Sir Richard brings to Circassia thirty years of pharmaceutical industry experience, having led Glaxo and subsequently Glaxo Wellcome as Chairman and Chief Executive, and GlaxoSmithKline as Chairman until 2002. He is currently Rector of Imperial College London and is a Fellow of Imperial College School of Medicine, a Fellow of King's College London and a Fleming Fellow at Lincoln College Oxford. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society and Academy of Medical Sciences.

Sir Richard is currently Chairman of the UK Stem Cell Foundation and Chairs CATALYST, London's Council for the Advancement of Science and Industry. He is a Board member of the Higher Education Funding Council for England and Chair of the WHO International Advisory Board that oversees the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform.

Internationally, he is Chairman of the Singapore Biomedical Sciences International Advisory Council, Director of Bio*One Capital, the investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board, and a member of the International Advisory Panel of Temasek, which owns and manages the Singapore Government's direct investments. Sir Richard is also Senior Director of Rio Tinto Plc, Deputy Chairman of Lonza Group Ltd, Chairman of the Healthcare Advisory Group of APAX, Chairman of MerLion Pharmaceuticals Pte Ltd and a Non-Executive Director of Abraxis BioScience Inc.

About Circassia

Circassia is a specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on developing medicines designed to control immune system responses. The company has a highly experienced management team with a proven track record in product development and commercialisation, and having successfully completed a substantial fundraising is backed by a syndicate of internationally respected venture capital and institutional investors.

Circassia is initially focusing its expertise on curing allergies, utilising its proprietary T-cell epitope desensitization technology, which was originally developed at Imperial College London. The company has a number of ongoing development programmes, with the most advanced against cat dander allergy having successfully completed a phase II clinical trial.

For more information please visit the company's website www.circassia.co.uk.

CONTACT: Contacts: Steve Harris, CEO, Circassia, Tel: +44-(0)1865-784-574,Mobile: +44-(0)7802-873-070; Rob Budge, RJB Communications, Tel:+44-(0)1865-760-969, Mobile: +44-(0)7710-741-241