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Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Announces Appointment of Dr. James Pennington As Executive Vice President & Chief Medical Officer

Posted on: Tuesday, 20 March 2007, 09:00 CDT

SAN MATEO, Calif., March 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing anti-inflammatory drugs for chronic and acute diseases, announced today the appointment of James E. Pennington, M.D. to the position of Executive Vice President & Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Pennington will be a member of Anthera's senior management team and will be responsible for providing medical and scientific guidance in the clinical development of the Company's pipeline products.

"With Jim joining our organization, we now have an even stronger leadership in place to support and drive the long-term growth of our development programs," said Paul F. Truex, President and CEO. "Jim has an extensive experience in product development and clinical research and has an impressive track record of successfully leading products through the NDA process. His significant experience in the pharmaceutical industry and strong academic background will make him invaluable during this important growth period for Anthera."

Dr. Pennington has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He comes to Anthera from CoTherix, Inc. where, since 2004, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of a biopharmaceutical company focused on licensing, developing and commercializing therapeutic products for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Previously, he was Executive Vice President, Medical and Scientific Affairs and Chief Medical Officer of InterMune, Inc., a publicly-traded biopharmaceutical company focused on the development, applied research and marketing of life-saving therapies for pulmonary and hepatic diseases, and also served as Vice President of Biological and Biotechnology Clinical Development of Bayer Corporation for 11 years. Prior to entering the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Pennington also has years of experience in academia at Harvard Medical School and the University of California, San Francisco. He attended the University of Oregon School of Medicine to earn his medical degree and is board certified in internal medicine and infectious disease.

About Anthera Pharmaceuticals

Anthera Pharmaceuticals is a privately-held pharmaceutical development company committed to world-class development and commercialization of promising clinical products to address the unmet medical needs of patients with life-threatening chronic and acute inflammatory diseases. In 2006, Anthera acquired worldwide rights (except Japan) to a series of clinical and pre-clinical compounds that inhibit the enzymatic activity of members of the phospholipase (PLA2) family -- a group of enzymes responsible for the release of arachidonic acid and subsequent production of leukotrienes‚ prostacyclins and other mediators of inflammation. These highly potent compounds inhibit novel‚ upstream steps in the inflammation cascade and have the potential to address a variety of diseases including: acute chest syndrome, acute lung injury, acute respiratory distress syndrome, atherosclerosis, acute coronary syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and psoriasis. In order to efficiently commercialize this platform, Anthera has brought together a proven management team with extensive experience in licensing, clinical research, development, and commercialization of anti-inflammatory products. For more information please visit http://www.anthera.com/.

Press Relations (510) 277-1208 pr@anthera.com

Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

CONTACT: Press Relations, +1-510-277-1208, or pr@anthera.com

Web site: http://www.anthera.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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