MedPharm Appoints Geoffrey Vernon as Chairman; Leading Specialist Topical Pharmaceutical Development Company Embarks upon New Expansion Phase.

CHICAGO -- UK-based topical pharmaceutical development specialist MedPharm Ltd today announced at BIO 2006 in Chicago that it has appointed Dr Geoffrey Vernon as Chairman. Dr Vernon is well respected in both the pharmaceutical industry and investor community with a distinguished international career, including senior roles at Schering and Ciba-Geigy, and in venture capital as a partner at Advent Ltd and an executive director at Rothschild Asset Management. Since 1998, he's been chairman of Ziggus Holdings which specialises in advising fast growing life science and biopharmaceutical companies. Founded in 1999, MedPharm itself has experienced a rapid period of growth, fuelled by strong revenue growth in contract formulation services. This has enabled the company to create its own portfolio of drug delivery systems and an internal drug development programme. Dr Vernon will be working with the Board and management to develop and implement the future growth strategies of the Company, which include raising funds to exploit these opportunities and to facilitate MedPharm's development as a specialist pharmaceutical company.

Announcing the appointment, MedPharm CEO Dr Andrew Muddle commented: "We're delighted to have Geoffrey joining us at this exciting stage in MedPharm's development. Our contract services business continues to grow an average of 38% per annum which has provided us with initial funding for a portfolio of novel topical drug delivery systems, such as MedNail(R) and MedSpray(TM), which we're now exploiting to develop our own product pipeline for a range of topical applications in dermatology as well as to treat insomnia. We feel Geoffrey has the ideal mixture of experience, contacts and skills to make a decisive contribution as we look to successfully exploit these major opportunities. He is and has been on the board of a large number of companies from private to public. In addition, Geoffrey combines widespread knowledge of institutional investors and operating companies with proven success in growing companies." Dr Vernon also welcomed the opportunity: "MedPharm occupies a unique and pivotal position in the pharmaceutical development chain. They make a high value contribution through either reformulation of existing products or new formulations for alternative delivery routes. I look forward to helping them devise and implement a coherent strategy for growth."