IDEA AG Signs Major Licensing Agreement with Alpharma Inc.; Alpharma to Pay $60 Million Upfront

LONDON, NEW YORK and HAMILTON, BERMUDA: September 6, 2007 - Celtic Pharmaceutical Holdings L.P. ("Celtic Pharma"), the global private equity firm focused on the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, announces that its German portfolio company, IDEA AG has licensed the US rights to its lead product, Diractin® for the treatment of deep pain, to an affiliate of Alpharma Inc. a specialty pharmaceutical company, whose shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Diractin® is a transdermal formulation of ketoprofen which utilizes IDEA’s innovative Transfersome® targeted drug delivery platform. Alpharma’s press release is appended to this announcement.

Under the terms of the licence agreement, Alpharma is paying IDEA $60m upfront and three additional near-term payments totaling $77m upon the achievement of certain regulatory and patent-related milestones. Upon US regulatory approval of Diractin®, Alpharma will make a final milestone payment of either $45m or $65m, depending on the results of one of the clinical trials for the product. Alpharma will also pay IDEA royalties based on the annual level of sales achieved in the US market. As part of the licence transaction, IDEA will also receive warrants to purchase $100m of Alpharma’s common stock upon regulatory approval of Diractin® in the United States, giving IDEA and, indirectly, Celtic Pharma a stake in Alpharma’s overall success in building its pain franchise, supported by the launch of Diractin®.

“As IDEA’s lead institutional investor it has been our privilege to support the company in its negotiations. We are delighted at the completion of this excellent licensing agreement between IDEA and Alpharma, which is an ideal commercial partner for the launch and marketing of a novel treatment for pain relief. Diractin® is the first of many targeted products with reduced side-effects that we see coming from the exploitation of the powerful Transfersome® technology platform,” commented John Mayo, Joint Managing General Partner of Celtic Pharma.

Joint Managing General Partner Stephen Evans-Freke added: “We congratulate the Board and management teams of both IDEA and Alpharma on their deal. This represents an excellent first exit transaction for Celtic Pharma with its growing portfolio of novel therapeutic products in late-stage development, and we look forward to further exit transactions with large or specialty pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies who are well positioned to execute aggressive commercial launches in our products’ targeted markets.”

About Celtic Pharmaceutical Holdings L.P.

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 programmes and drives these programmes 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.

Enquiries Celtic Pharma John Mayo Tel: +44 (0)20 7291-5450 Kathy Armstrong Tel: +1 (212) 616-4042 kathy@celticpharma.com