NORCROSS, Ga., Jan. 4, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Auriga Laboratories, Inc., a leading specialty pharmaceutical company, today announced that Andrew D. Shales has been named senior vice president of sales and marketing.
Mr. Shales, a pharmaceutical industry executive with nearly 20 years of experience in leading and coordinating pharmaceutical sales and marketing activities, has joined the senior management team of Auriga Pharmaceuticals. He has built an impressive track record for commercializing pharmaceutical products, building commercial teams, strategic planning, product launch implementation, and opinion leader development. At Auriga, he will be leading a national sales force and marketing initiative dedicated to promoting the company's prescription product portfolio.
"We are very pleased to add a sales and marketing executive of Mr. Shales' caliber to the Auriga management team as we look toward new product launches in 2006," said Guy Amato, Auriga CEO. "With Andrew and other recent additions during the last several months, we have created a team of senior executives with deep leadership experience and success at establishing, building and managing pharmaceutical companies."
Most recently, Mr. Shales served as vice president of sales and marketing for Synthon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a global development-based company specializing in ANDA and 505 (b)(2) NDA drug applications. At Synthon, he was responsible for building the marketing and sales functions from inception as Synthon transitioned from a generics company to one marketing both generic and branded products. He led the launch of Synthon's first branded drug, Pexeva(r) (paroxetine mesylate) into the SSRI depression market.
Prior to this, Mr. Shales was marketing leader at First Horizon Pharmaceutical Corporation, an acquisition-driven specialty pharmaceutical company with products in the therapeutic areas of cough/cold, women's health, GI and cardiology and net revenues of $115 million. At UCB Pharma, Inc., Mr. Shales served as group product director for central nervous system products and built the CNS marketing function from inception for the launch of Keppra(r), a leading medication for seizures. He also managed the Zyrtec(r) product, which was co-promoted by UCB Pharma and Pfizer.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Shales served in a range of sales and marketing roles at companies that included Medeva Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Damon Clinical Laboratories.
Mr. Shales earned a B.A. degree in Psychology from King's College, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
Auriga recently elected Philip P. Pesin, an executive with extensive experience in establishing innovative companies in the pharmaceutical and other industries, as chairman of the board. The company has built a strong management team during recent months with pharmaceutical industry leaders joining the company, including Paul Fisher as CFO and Guy Amato as CEO.
About Auriga Laboratories, Inc.
Auriga Laboratories, Inc., develops and markets new prescription products for approved drugs using proprietary drug delivery technologies and reformulation strategies. The specialty pharmaceutical company is based in Norcross, Georgia. A highly integrated team of experienced pharmaceutical industry executives manages product life cycle from development through marketing and sales. The company currently markets Extendryl(r), a prescription cough/cold medication, and Trycet(tm), used to manage pain. More information is available at the company's website at: http://www.aurigalabs.com.
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