LAVAL, QUEBEC, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Labopharm Inc. today announced that pharmaceutical industry veteran Mary Anne Heino has been appointed to the newly created position of Vice President Sales and Marketing with the responsibility of overseeing the Company’s global sales and marketing function. Ms. Heino will also assume the role of President of Labopharm’s wholly owned subsidiary, Labopharm USA, in which she will be responsible for developing Labopharm’s presence in the United States.
“Our vision is to develop a fully integrated specialty pharmaceutical company with the capabilities to take products from the laboratory bench all the way through to marketing and sales,” said James R. Howard-Tripp, President and Chief Executive Officer, Labopharm Inc. “With broad sales and marketing experience with leading international pharmaceutical companies, Ms. Heino will play a significant role in the development of our sales and marketing function as we pursue the commercialization of our once-daily formulation of tramadol both in the United States and around the globe.”
Ms. Heino will be responsible for building Labopharm’s global sales and marketing function, beginning in the United States, where Labopharm has received an approvable letter for its once-daily formulation of tramadol from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. As part of her responsibilities, she will oversee management of Labopharm’s relationship with its marketing partner for once-daily tramadol in the U.S., Purdue Pharma, toward the launch of once-daily tramadol, as well as the planned initiative under which Purdue will assist Labopharm in building and training Labopharm’s own sales force to pursue certain specialty markets in the U.S. She will also oversee launch of once-daily tramadol in other key markets such as Canada, assist in Labopharm’s contribution to marketing of once-daily tramadol in Europe and manage the integration of potential additional products to be launched by Labopharm in the U.S.
Mary Anne Heino brings to Labopharm more than 15 years of experience in sales and marketing management and sales in the pharmaceutical industry. Most recently, Ms. Heino held executive positions with Centocor, Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, including Vice President of Strategic Planning and Competitive Intelligence and Vice President of Sales, in which she directed a sales team that generated revenue of more than $2 billion annually. Prior to her tenure at Centocor, Ms. Heino held a series of increasingly senior sales and marketing managerial roles at Janssen Pharmaceutica, also a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. Ms. Heino holds an MBA from the Stern School of Business at New York University.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, which reflect the Corporation’s current expectations regarding future events. The forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual events could differ materially from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors, including the uncertainties related to the regulatory process and the commercialization of the Corporation’s products thereafter. Investors should consult the Corporation’s ongoing quarterly filings and annual reports for additional information on risks and uncertainties relating to these forward-looking statements. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. The Corporation disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
Labopharm Inc.
CONTACT: At Labopharm: Mark D’Souza, Chief Financial Officer, Tel: (450)680-0207; At The Equicom Group: Jason Hogan, Media and Investor Relations,Tel: (416) 815-0700, jhogan@equicomgroup.com; French: Eric Bouchard, Tel:(514) 208-5939, ebouchard@equicomgroup.com
