Alliance Pharma Regulatory News (APH)

29 Jul 2005 07:00

Alliance Pharma PLC29 July 2005 For Immediate Release 29 July 2005 ALLIANCE PHARMA PLC ("Alliance" or "the Company") Leading distributor signed in Turkey for Periostat(R) Alliance Pharma plc (AIM: APH), the emerging speciality pharmaceutical company,is pleased to announce that it has entered into a distribution agreement withVem IIac to register, distribute and market Periostat in Turkey. Simultaneouslyto this agreement, Alliance has also extended its agreement with CollaGenex toadd Turkey to its list of available territories. Periostat is the first and only approved prescription medicine for the treatmentof the severe gum disease periodontitis. Vem IIac, based in Ankara, is a specialist dental pharmaceutical company and ishighly experienced in the dental market in Turkey, where it currentlydistributes and sells a range of dental anaesthetics and consumables to morethan 20,000 dental clinics. Statistics indicate that 22 per cent of the Turkish population has advancedperiodontitis, representing a potential market of approximately nine millionpeople. Periostat will be the only enzyme suppression product on the market inTurkey to treat periodontitis. Alliance and Vem IIac have compiled and submitted the dossier to secure themarketing authorisation for Periostat in Turkey. This registration process isexpected to take between eighteen months and two years. Commenting on the news, John Dawson, Alliance Pharma's Chief Executive, said:"I am extremely delighted with these two agreements. Periostat is a major growthopportunity for Alliance Pharma and this agreement with Vem IIac increases ourinternational reach into a well developed dental market that represents asignificant commercial opportunity. It has also produced a good understandingbetween us and CollaGenex on the way forward to exploit markets that wereoutside our original agreement." For further information:Alliance Pharma plc + 44 (0) 1249 466966John Dawson, Chief ExecutiveMaddy Scott, Finance Directorwww.alliancepharma.co.uk Buchanan Communications + 44 (0) 20 7466 5000Mark Court/Lisa Baderoon/Rebecca Skye Dietrich Notes to editors About Alliance PharmaAlliance Pharma, founded in 1996, is an AIM listed emerging specialitypharmaceutical company based in Chippenham, Wiltshire, UK. The company has astrong track record of acquiring the rights to established niche brands andowns, or shares, the rights to 30 branded pharmaceutical products and continuesto explore opportunities to expand the range. Alliance Pharma's products are prescribed in the treatment of a wide range ofconditions and include brands used in periodontitis (a serious gum disease), theprevention of heart disease, in Parkinson's disease, in nutrition, in nasalinfections, in the treatment of dermatological conditions and in childbirth.Alliance Pharma's sales are mainly prescription driven. Its products aredistributed to hospitals directly and to pharmaceutical wholesalers whichservice both hospital and retail pharmacies with their prescriptionrequirements. Alliance Pharma is also developing novel products for sleep disorders and theinduction of labour. Alliance Pharma joined the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in December2003 and trades under the symbol APH. About Periostat Periostat is the first and only approved oral pharmaceutical product for theadjunctive treatment of adult periodontal disease (periodontitis) by thesuppression of those enzymes that destroy periodontal support tissues. Periostatis included in the Secretary of State for Health's list for dental prescribingand is listed on the UK's Dental Practitioners' Formulary. Periodontitis isestimated to affect 11 per cent of the adult population in the UK. Alliance Pharma acquired the rights to Periostat in November 2004 fromCollaGenex International Ltd, part of CollaGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc (Nasdaq:CGPI), for the territories of the enlarged European Union, Switzerland, Israel,Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange