New CEO and EUR2.3m Private Placement for Atacama Labs Oy
By Atacama Labs Oy, PRNESunday, February 7, 2010
A Finnish Company Sets a Revolutionary Standard for the Granules and the Tablets Made Thereof - They Call it "PDG"
HELSINKI, February 8 - As of January 2010 Mr. Steffen Mittwich has been appointed as new CEO for
Atacama Labs Oy, a Finnish specialty pharmaceutical company, which has
developed a unique pneumatic dry granulation method called PDG
Technology(TM). Mr. Mittwich is based in Geneva, Switzerland.
In his new role, Mr. Mittwich will focus on building up of the company
and establishing partnerships with galenic development and contract
manufacturing partners. In addition, his extensive experience of
pharmaceutical industry will be helpful in establishing client cooperation
and joint ventures.
Mr. Mittwich has worked in pharma industry since 1992 and has held
several management positions within major European and international
pharmaceutical companies, such as Sanofi-aventis, Aventis Pharma, and Pfizer.
His latest position at Sanofi-aventis was Regional Business Director and CEO
Winthrop Pharmaceuticals. Steffen Mittwich is Industrial Economics Engineer
from the Technical University of Karlsruhe, Germany.
"I am very delighted of my appointment. It is not every day you get a
chance to lead into the market an excellent invention in base technology with
a fast developing company. For me, it is a real entrepreneurial challenge
which I love to take on," says Steffen Mittwich.
Additionally, Atacama Labs Oy raised EUR2.3m additional capital by
private placement completed in January 2010, from both Finnish and
International private investors. "This capital investment enables Atacama
Labs to move from the R&D phase into the commercial phase, and to launch the
revolutionary PDG Technology for the traditional drug manufacturing field,"
says Steffen Mittwich.
The members of Atacama's board of directors are Mr. Jari Ovaskainen
(former CEO/founder of iobox.com), Mr. Ari-Pekka Hameri (Ph.D., Professor of
Process Technology) and Mr. Gregoire Notz (Geneva based investor). "Mr.
Mittwich was selected out of numerous executive candidates, and he has the
required skills and the industry background to steer Atacama Labs Oy into the
commercial growth. We are very excited to work with him," says Mr.
Ovaskainen, Chairman of the Board.
Atacama Labs pneumatic dry granulation or PDG Technology(TM) is
revolutionary in the sense that it offers exceptional advantages compared to
all existing granule/tablet manufacturing processes. "Our clients can extend
the patent life of expiring drugs, which can mean several more years of
protected sales of a blockbuster drug, or they can also convert very
difficult or almost impossible drug compound materials into a perfected
tablet. In both cases, economics can be hundreds of millions in global
additional revenue or more, naturally subject to magnitude of drug revenue,"
Mr. Mittwich concludes.
Atacama's PDG Technology(TM) enables rapid development and processing of
all drug substances. The technology replaces the traditional wet granulation
technology, which is known as a complex process and has always challenges in
production quality and operational control. The PDG equipment is fully
automated and installed in a cGMP compliant environment.
About Atacama Labs Oy
Atacama Labs Oy is a privately owned specialty pharmaceutical company
that develops, manufactures and commercializes enhanced pharmaceutical and
biopharmaceutical products based on its proprietary drug delivery
technologies. The Company is located in Helsinki, Finland.
www.atacamalabs.com
For further information, please contact: Steffen Mittwich, CEO, Atacama Labs Oy, tel. +41-79-369-3410
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