MILAN, Italy, Nov. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Eurand, a specialty pharmaceutical company, today announced the appointment of Dr. Costantinos Efthymiopoulos to the position of Chief Scientific Officer. In this position, Dr. Efthymiopoulos will be responsible for global Research and Development, Clinical Development and Regulatory Affairs. The appointment will take effect on January 9th, 2006. "We are delighted to have attracted a manager of Costantinos's calibre to Eurand," commented Gearoid Faherty, Chief Executive Officer of Eurand. "With more than 22 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, we are confident that Costantinos will make a significant contribution to the development of Eurand." Prior to joining Eurand, Dr. Efthymiopoulos worked for Serono, (SWX:SEO) ( NYSE: SRA) based in Geneva, Switzerland, most recently, as Corporate VP, Head of the Dermatology Therapeutic Area. In this position he led the creation of a new therapeutic area for Serono, including the worldwide launch of Raptiva(R), for the treatment of psoriasis. Dr. Efthymiopoulos began his career in research at the Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Strasbourg. Subsequently he joined Farmitalia Carlo Erba in Milan where he was appointed Head of the Pharmacokinetic Analysis Group. He then moved to GlaxoWellcome in London, where he held various scientific and managerial positions in Clinical Pharmacology. Dr. Efthymiopoulos has a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Athens, an M.Sc. in Industrial Pharmacy and an M.Sc. in Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology and Medicinal Chemistry as well as a Ph.D. in Pharmacology (Pharmacokinetics) from the University of Strasbourg. He also holds an M.B.A. from the London Business School. Dr. Efthymiopoulos is author/co-author of more than 60 scientific publications and of two patents and has held visiting Professor appointments at the University of Strasbourg and at the University of Padova. About Eurand Eurand is a privately held specialty pharmaceutical company that develops enhanced pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical products based on its proprietary drug delivery technologies. The Company specializes in four areas: bioavailability enhancement of poorly soluble drugs, customized release, taste masking/fast-dissolving formulations, and drug targeting. Eurand has had three products approved by the FDA since 2000 and is currently developing a pipeline of products based on its proprietary drug delivery technology. The company also works with many of the world's leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to develop enhanced forms of their existing products and development compounds. Eurand is a global company with more than 500 employees and annual revenue of more than $100 million. Eurand is based in Milan, Italy, with research, development and manufacturing facilities throughout the world, including sites in Milan, Italy; Dayton, Ohio (US) and Paris, France. For more information, visit Eurand's website at http://www.eurand.com/. DATASOURCE: Eurand CONTACT: Gearoid Faherty, CEO, Eurand, Italy: +39-02-954281, ; or John Capodanno, Financial Dynamics, +1-212-850-5705 Web site: http://www.eurand.com/

Copyright