Strengthens Management Team
Record Quarterly Pennsaid Prescriptions
MISSISSAUGA, ON, July 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - Nuvo Research Inc. (TSX: NRI), a specialty pharmaceutical company dedicated to building a portfolio of products for the topical treatment of pain, announced today that it has appointed Eric Vandal as Vice President of Sales and Marketing and Arnold Gammaitoni, Pharm.D., as Vice President of Scientific Affairs in its Pain Group. Both Mr. Vandal and Dr. Gammaitoni will report directly to Dr. Bradley S. Galer, President of the Pain Group. Nuvo also announced record quarterly prescriptions of Pennsaid.
"We are delighted to have both Eric and Arnold join Nuvo Research at such a critical point in our growth as a specialty pharmaceuticals business," said Dan Chicoine, Nuvo's Chairman & Co-Chief Executive Officer. "Eric and Arnold together bring a wealth of commercial and clinical experience in the area of pain, with particular experience in topical analgesics. Combined with the acquisition of ZARS Pharma earlier this year, the addition of Eric and Arnold further positions the company as a leader in the topical pain space."
Mr. Vandal comes to Nuvo from Pfizer (formerly King Pharmaceuticals), where he was most recently Senior Director, Marketing, for the company's hospital business unit. At King, Mr. Vandal oversaw the company's hospital franchises, including their hemostasis portfolio (Thrombin-JMI®) and launched their pain franchise into the hospital segment. Prior to working at King, Mr. Vandal was at Alpharma Pharmaceuticals where he was Senior Director, Marketing. At Alpharma, Mr. Vandal was the head of the marketing department that launched the FLECTOR Patch and grew the KADIAN Capsule business. Mr. Vandal previously worked for Endo Pharmaceuticals where he took on roles of increasing responsibility within its commercial organization, including leadership over the launch of Percocet line extensions, Opana and Frova.
Dr. Gammaitoni joins Nuvo from Merck, where he was most recently Global Director of Scientific Affairs for Analgesia, Immunology, and Anesthesia. In this role, Dr. Gammaitoni advanced both the company's R&D and commercial efforts through the development of scientific leader engagement strategies, development of publication strategies, as well as the execution of scientific reviews over licensing and other business development opportunities. Dr. Gammaitoni also played a key role in developing and executing the investigator initiated and academic collaborative studies strategy. Prior to joining Merck, Dr. Gammaitoni spent more than six years as the Senior Director of Medical Affairs for Endo Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for medical communications, late stage clinical research, publications and business development. Dr. Gammaitoni is also co-Founder of Hospice Pharmacia (now excelleRx, an Omnicare company) and has authored or been featured in over 40 academic papers and over 100 poster presentations.
Mr. Vandal and Dr. Gammaitoni will initially focus on building the Synera® brand in the United States, a topical patch that combines lidocaine, tetracaine and heat to provide local dermal analgesia for superficial venous access and superficial dermatological procedures. Mr. Vandal will lead the development and execution of the commercial plan for Synera and Dr. Gammaitoni will focus on the scientific and medical affairs responsibilities and pharmacovigilence for all of Nuvo's pain products, including Synera.
"These hires are crucial to our future success. I am pleased to be working once again with Eric and Arnold at Nuvo where we plan to replicate our record of success from our tenures at Endo," said Dr. Galer. "We now have the leadership team in place to more rapidly transition our Pain Group from an organization focused on costly early stage development to one focused on successfully commercializing its assets."
Pennsaid, which was launched in the U.S. market in April 2010, continued its U.S. growth during the second quarter of 2011 and again achieved a record level of quarterly prescriptions. Total U.S. prescriptions filled during the most recent quarter exceeded 40,000 an increase of approximately 17% over the quarter ended March 31, 2011.
About Nuvo Research Inc.
Nuvo Research is a publicly traded, Canadian specialty pharmaceutical company, headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario. The Company is building a portfolio of products for the treatment of pain through internal research and development and by in-licensing and acquisition. The Company's Pain Group, located in West Chester, Pennsylvania, is focused on the development and commercialization of topically delivered pain products. The company's product portfolio includes Pennsaid®, Pliaglis® and Synera. Pennsaid, a topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), is used to treat the signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis of the knee. Pennsaid is sold in the United States by Mallinckrodt Inc., a Covidien company (NYSE: COV), in Canada by Paladin Labs Inc. (TSX:PLB) and in several European countries. Pliaglis is a topical local anesthetic cream, which is U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved to provide topical local analgesia for superficial dermatological procedures. The Company has licensed worldwide marketing rights to Pliaglis to Galderma Pharma S.A., a global specialty pharmaceutical company focused on dermatology. Synera is a topical patch that combines lidocaine, tetracaine and heat, approved in the United States to provide local dermal analgesia for superficial venous access and superficial dermatological procedures and in Europe, for surface anaesthesia of normal intact skin. Nuvo currently markets Synera in the United States and its licensing partner, EuroCept International B.V., has initiated a pan-European launch of Synera (under the name Rapydan) in several European countries. Through its subsidiary, Nuvo Research GmbH, based in Leipzig, Germany, the Company is also developing the compound WF10, for the treatment of immune related diseases. For more information, please visit www.nuvoresearch.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This document contains forward-looking statements. Some forward-looking statements may be identified by words like "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "intends", "indicates" or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements, by their nature, necessarily involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Nuvo considers the assumptions on which these forward-looking statements are based to be reasonable at the time they were prepared, but caution that these assumptions regarding future events, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, may ultimately prove to be incorrect. Factors and risks, which could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations, are discussed in the annual report, as well as in Nuvo's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2010. Nuvo disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or future events, except as required by law. For additional information on risks and uncertainties relating to these forward looking statements, investors should consult the Company's ongoing quarterly filings, annual report and Annual Information Form and other filings found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
SOURCE Nuvo Research Inc.
