New Chief Executive Officer and Vice President Commercial Operations USA at the Helsinn Group’s American subsidiary, Helsinn Therapeutics (U.S.) Inc.

LUGANO, Switzerland, September 9 /PRNewswire/ — As part of the Helsinn
Group’s development strategy, William Mann, PhD, has been appointed as new
CEO in the American subsidiary, Helsinn Therapeutics (U.S.) Inc. William
Mann, PhD, was already Chief Operating Officer of the recently acquired
Helsinn Therapeutics, and has held leadership positions in a Swiss
multinational with positions in Business Development and in Research.

Moreover, Helsinn announces that Mr. William Brown has been hired as Vice
President Commercial Operations USA, to build a Helsinn Therapeutics direct
sales structure in the United States. Mr. Brown has experience in
multinational groups and in the management of Supportive Care, having
previously managed the product Aloxi in MGI Pharma.

Dr. Riccardo Braglia, the Helsinn group’s CEO said, “Helsinn wishes to
implement a new group growth strategy in the United States, placing more and
more importance on the project development and acquisition of new business
expertise. The appointments of William Mann and William Brown will allow us
to consolidate Helsinn’s US business, the projects currently in development
in cancer supportive care and in gastrointestinal areas and will lay the
foundations for further development in North America also from a commercial
point of view.”

About Helsinn Group

Helsinn is a privately owned pharmaceutical group with headquarters in
Lugano, Switzerland, and subsidiaries in USA and Ireland. Helsinn’s unique
business model is focused on the licensing of pharmaceuticals and medical
devices in therapeutic niche areas. The Group in-licenses early stage new
chemical entities, completes their development from the performance of
pre-clinical/clinical studies and Chemistry, Manufacturing and Control (CMC)
development, to the filing for and attainment of their market approval
worldwide.

Helsinn’s products are sold directly, through the Group subsidiaries, or
eventually out-licensed to its network of local marketing and commercial
partners, selected for their deep in-market knowledge and know-how, and
assisted and supported with a full range of product and scientific management
services, including commercial, regulatory, financial, legal and medical
marketing advice.

The active pharmaceutical ingredients and the finished dosage forms are
manufactured at Helsinn’s cGMP facilities in Switzerland and Ireland, and
supplied worldwide to its customers. Helsinn is the worldwide licensor of
palonosetron, a second generation 5-HT3 receptor antagonist, for the
prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) and of
post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in patients with cancer, and of the
original nimesulide, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)
distributed in more than 50 countries worldwide.

Helsinn, with a workforce of around 450 employees in Switzerland, Ireland
and USA, reported a 2008 turnover of over CHF 280.3 million (about EUR 178
million), covering 75 countries worldwide, with over 20% of this turnover
invested in R&D.

For more information about Helsinn Group, please visit the website:
http://www.helsinn.com

    Contact person at Helsinn Healthcare SA:
    Paola Bonvicini
    Head of Communication & Press Office
    Tel.: +41-91-985-21-21
    E-Mail: info-hhc@helsinn.com

SOURCE Helsinn Healthcare SA