ESP Pharma Further Broadens its Marketing and Business Development Strengths with Additions to its Management Team.

Business and Medical/Healthcare Editors and Writers

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EDISON, N.J.--(BW HealthWire)--Aug. 14, 2002

ESP Pharma, Inc., an emerging and rapidly growing specialty pharmaceutical company, today announced that Ernest S. Biczak, M.D. and Gregory J. Stokes, J.D. have joined the Company, respectively, as Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs and Vice President of Corporate Development, further enhancing the breadth and depth of ESP Pharma's prestigious management team.

Reporting to Howard Weisman, ESP Pharma's President and COO, Dr. Biczak's responsibilities include overseeing liaisons with medical thought leaders and specialists whose opinions significantly influence the clinical management of patient treatments in the acute care setting. "Ernie is highly regarded and renowned for his experience in the acute-care medical setting," said Weisman. "He is exceptionally well matched to the responsibilities of this important position and we are fortunate to have him on board as a member of our senior management staff."

Mr. Stokes reports to Louis Berardi, ESP Pharma's CFO and Executive Vice Present of Corporate Development who said, "Greg is a highly gifted pharmaceutical professional with proven expertise and success in strategic planning and new business development, key elements in ESP's product acquisition strategy. I first had the opportunity to work with Greg at Roberts Pharmaceutical Corporation, and am very pleased he decided to join our team at ESP Pharma."

John Spitznagel, ESP Pharma's Chairman and CEO commented that "Ernie and Greg are very welcome additions to our Company. They possess outstanding qualifications and proven track records that are characteristic hallmarks of our management team. Both have joined ESP and hit the ground running, each already contributing to our strategic plans for long-term growth and our commitment to excellence as a specialty pharmaceutical company."

Ernest S. Biczak, M.D.

Prior to joining ESP Pharma as Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs, Dr. Biczak served as Senior Vice President, Physician Practices for the Saint Barnabas Health Care System where he successfully renegotiated contractual agreements with physicians in 47 hospital-owned practices to save costs, trained administrators regarding physician office management, and established corporate resources that are today recognized as the authority for information on physician issues for the entire St. Barnabas Health Care System.

He previously founded Immediate Medical Care Centers in New Jersey and held positions as Assistant Director, Emergency Department and Assistant Director, Emergency Medicine Residency with the Morristown, NJ Memorial Hospital and Vice President with Emergency Medical Associates of Livingston, NJ. He received his M.D. degree from Rutgers Medical School, and performed his residency and held the position of Chief Resident with the Michigan State University Affiliated Hospitals.

Dr. Biczak is Board certified in Emergency Medicine, a Fellow of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine and holds memberships with the American Health Lawyers Association and the Medical Group Management Association.

Gregory J. Stokes

Prior to joining ESP Pharma as Vice President of Corporate Development, Mr. Stokes served as Director of Business Development with Shire Pharmaceuticals Group plc (LSE: SHP.L, NASDAQ: SHPGY, TSX: SHQ) where he executed business development strategies for commercial opportunities with regard to both in- and out-licensing prospects, joint ventures, acquisitions, co-promotion and co-marketing arrangements, and investments in late-stage pipeline compounds. Previously, he was employed with Roberts Pharmaceutical Corporation which was merged into Shire at year-end 1999.

While with Roberts, Greg advanced in position from a Specialty Hospital Sales Representative to Product Manager, Group Product Manager, and to Senior Manager, Business Development and Strategic Planning. During his tenure with Roberts, he participated in the successful assessment of opportunities to acquire in-market and development-stage specialty therapeutics, thus facilitating significant expansion in Roberts' portfolio of marketed and pipeline products, plus the Company's emergence as a partner-of-choice for product acquisition and marketing alliances, and Roberts dynamic turnaround and growth in profitability. Prior to Roberts, he served as a sales representative for Reed & Carnrick Pharmaceuticals which was acquired by the German based Schwarz Pharma AG.

Mr. Stokes holds a B.A. degree from the University of Pennsylvania and received his M.B.A. and J.D. degrees from Rutgers University. He has extensive international pharmaceutical experience, and was admitted to the New Jersey State Bar in 1999.

About ESP Pharma, Inc.

ESP Pharma is committed to Excellence in Specialty Pharmaceuticals and is dedicated to helping physicians improve patient outcomes in the acute care setting. Led by a strong management team, the Company focuses on exploring and identifying opportunities to selectively acquire and enhance the market potential of novel, commercially available therapeutics and late-stage development drugs to fulfill unmet market needs. Opportunities for ESP Pharma to acquire product marketing, manufacturing, and development rights are the result of several factors, including industry consolidation and because many existing and developmental drugs cannot meet the revenue thresholds necessary for major pharmaceutical companies. ESP Pharma, a privately held company, has investment support from the leading healthcare venture capital and private equity firms of Domain Associates, LLC (http://www.domainvc.com), Apax Partners, Inc. (http://www.apax.com), and New Enterprise Associates (http://www.nea.com). Additional information about ESP Pharma is available on the internet at http://www.ESPPharma.com