Miami Beach, Nov. 28, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Divine Skin Inc. (OTCQB:DSKX), a leading developer of personal care products, announced today the appointment of two new independent directors to its board, Bernard Opitz and Matthew Pfeffer. The addition of Mr. Opitz and Mr. Pfeffer increases Divine Skin's board to a total of four members with three being independent.
Mr. Opitz has been serving as Executive Vice President of Cody Laboratories Inc., a manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and pharmaceutical solutions, since August 2011. He held various positions in Engineering, Manufacturing, and Product Development for the Bayer group in Germany, Italy and the United States from 1980 to 2000, including Vice President of Operations, and Senior Vice President of Engineering for Bayer Corp. In this position, he led engineering and operations divisions with a budget of $38 million, with 230 employees and $1 billion in annual capital portfolios. Mr. Opitz also built operations and product development teams from the ground-up in medical device and biotechnology start-ups with FDA-approved products while serving as Senior Vice President for Ikonisys, a medical device start-up; Vice President Engineering for Wells' Dairy, a privately held company; for Nanosphere Inc., a diagnostic company; and Senior Vice President for Unilife Corp., a medical device company. During his career, Mr. Opitz has created a number of products or processes in pharmaceuticals and biotech, diagnostics, medical devices, food, chemicals, specialty polymers, fibers, and plastic films. Mr. Opitz holds an MS/BS degree in Engineering from the Technical University Graz, Austria.
Mr. Pfeffer is a Certified Public Accountant and has been Corporate Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Mannkind Corporation (NASDAQ:MNKD) since April 2008. He previously served as Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration of VaxGen Inc., with responsibility for finance, tax, treasury, human resources, IT, purchasing and facilities functions. Prior to VaxGen, Mr. Pfeffer served as CFO of Cell Genesys. During his nine year tenure at Cell Genesys, Mr. Pfeffer served as Director of Finance before being named CFO in 1998. Mr. Pfeffer began his career at Price Waterhouse. He has a bachelor's degree in Accounting from the University of California, Berkeley.
About Divine Skin
Divine Skin Inc. leads in the development of biotechnology for topical, and nutritional therapies. It markets through online and specialty retailers, distributors, cosmetics wholesalers and salons.
DS Laboratories, its flagship brand, offers high-performance topical solutions to restore growth and radiance to hair, suppress dandruff and unwanted hair, control acne, improve hygiene, and reduce cellulite and wrinkles. Bioavailability is enhanced through Nanosome encapsulation (www.DSLaboratories.com).
The Sigma Skin brand sells through upscale retailers like Neiman Marcus in the United States and Harvey Nichols in the United Kingdom. The topical products address hair loss and other signs of aging. (www.SigmaSkin.com).
Polaris Research Laboratories makes high-potency minoxidil-based hair-growth formulas (www.PolarisResearchLabs.com).
The Pure Guild offers purity with performance: Botanical compounds proven effective in clinical trials are extracted without industrial solvents or damaging heat and are sold through premium retailers (www.ThePureGuild.com).
Forward-Looking Statements:
Except for statements of historical fact, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking and made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "future," "plan" or "planned," "expects," or "projected." These forward-looking statements reflect numerous assumptions and involve a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's control that may cause actual results to differ materially from stated expectations. These risk factors include, among others, limited operating history, difficulty in developing and marketing products, intense competition and additional risks factors as discussed in reports filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at http://www.sec.gov.