ACTION PHARMA RECRUITS TORBEN J. LAURSEN TO LEAD THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF THE PIPELINE

Holte, Feb 9, 2009

Action Pharma A/S has recruited Torben Jung Laursen as Executive Vice President of Business Development. Torben has a solid background in the pharma industry having worked 20 years for companies such as Novo Nordisk, Roche and most recently Alpharma in functions spanning finance, marketing and business development. His last position at Alpharma was as Vice President New Products and Technologies.

“Torben Jung Laursen is a very strong executive and brings top international expertice in business development to the executive management of Action Pharma” says Søren Nielsen, CEO. “The timing is optimal since Action Pharma A/S has a relatively large pipeline in clinical and preclinical development which is now ready for commercialization”

“I very much look forward to joining the Action Pharma team” says Torben Jung Laursen. “The pipeline of drug candidates is exiting and has significant potential”.

Action Pharma A/S has an advanced drug candidate pipeline based on in house development, licensing agreements and acquisitions. Action Pharma A/S has two drug candidates in clinical development. AP214 is in a phase-II clinical trial in the USA for the protection of kidney injury associated with major cardiac surgery. AP1030 is in a phase-Ib clinical trial and is targeted for the treatment of type-II diabetes. In addition Action Pharma has two drug candidates in late preclinical development and has several discovery projects. The drug candidates are all first in class and have unique mode of action through melanocortin receptors, which are a new class of pharmaceutical targets. The commercial strategy is partnering after early clinical proof of concept.

For further information, please contact:
Søren Nielsen
CEO, Action Pharma A/S
Dronninggaards Allé 136
DK-2840 Holte, Denmark
sn@actionpharma.com
Phone: +45 23244533

Torben Jung Laursen
EVP BD, Action Pharma A/S
Dronninggaards Allé 136
DK-2840 Holte, Denmark
tla@actionpharma.com
Phone: +45 45405000