Santhera Extends Executive Management and Appoints Chief Commercial Officer - Seite 2

Thomas Meier, CEO of Santhera, added: "I am very pleased about the Board's appointments of highly experienced, fully committed and long-term colleagues to the Executive Management and I am excited to welcome Giovanni to Santhera. Together we will ensure the optimal preparation for a successful EU market launch of Raxone^® in its first indication Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy. We are committed to advancing Santhera as a prominent specialty pharma company dedicated to the development and commercialization of urgently needed therapies to improve the lives of patients suffering from orphan neuromuscular and mitochondrial diseases."

Abbreviated CVs of newly appointed members of Santhera's Executive Management

Nicholas Coppard, PhD (SVP, Head Development) joined Santhera in 2008 and has over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, both in big pharma and biotech, and has overseen the development, registration and life-cycle management of several important medicines in a variety of therapeutic areas.

Günther Metz, PhD (SVP, Business Development) has more than 20 years of experience in the life science industry. He joined Santhera in 2004 from Graffinity, one of the two companies that merged to form Santhera. Previously he worked in drug discovery at Fournier Pharma.

Oliver Strub (SVP, General Counsel & Secretary to the Board) joined Santhera in 2006. As an experienced commercial lawyer he previously worked as Head Corporate Law and Chief Compliance Officer for Ciba-Geigy and Ciba Specialty Chemicals (now part of BASF).

Giovanni Stropoli (Chief Commercial Officer Europe & RoW) has over 25 years of experience in commercialization, sales and marketing of pharmaceutical products. Prior to InterMune, where he was responsible for the successful launch of the breakthrough orphan drug Esbriet® in 11 countries, he held senior commercial functions with Eisai, ALK-Abelló and Eli Lilly.

Further information on Santhera's Executive Management is available on the Company's website.

# # #

About Santhera
Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) is a Swiss specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative pharmaceutical products for the treatment of orphan mitochondrial and neuromuscular diseases. Santhera develops Raxone^®/Catena^® as treatment for patients with Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON), Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) and Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (PPMS) and omigapil for congenital muscular dystrophies (CMD), all areas of high unmet medical need for which no therapies are currently available. For further information, please visit the Company's website www.santhera.com.