Altacor Strengthens Commercial Capability With Norgine Collaboration - for the Promotion of Altacor's Dry Eye Product Clinitas® in the UK

CAMBRIDGE England, July 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Altacor, the specialty ophthalmology company, and Norgine,  a leading European specialty pharmaceutical company, are today pleased to announce the signing of an agreement under the terms of which Norgine will promote  Altacor's Dry Eye product Clinitas® in the UK through its primary care sales teams.

Clinitas is a preservative free, high performance eyedrop for moderate Dry Eye that is prescribed by hospital-based ophthalmologists and primary care professionals. The promotion by Norgine's highly skilled and extensive primary care sales teams complements the work of Altacor's own hospital-focused  team and will raise product awareness in the part of medical community that is responsible for the continuity of patient care via follow-on prescribing from hospital recommendation.  

Peter Stein, Chairman of Norgine said: "We are pleased to initiate this collaboration with Altacor as a first step in what may become a broader partnering."

Dr Fran Crawford, CEO of Altacor added, "We are particularly excited to be working with Norgine in such a creative approach to sales and marketing of specialty ophthalmology products. This deal will help grow sales of our Clinitas products for Dry Eye and provides us with a much stronger overall commercial platform in the UK. Our relationship with Norgine is important and we hope it will allow Altacor to identify further strategic opportunities to leverage Norgine's pan-European commercial infrastructure and establish Altacor as a leading European specialty ophthalmology company."

About Altacor

Altacor is a specialty ophthalmology company with a portfolio of marketed pharmaceutical products and a diverse development pipeline. The Company's portfolio is focused on ocular surface diseases, glaucoma/glaucoma surgery and retinal diseases. The Company differentiates its products primarily through formulation or reprofiling existing compounds with established clinical activity and systemic safety.

Altacor has seven products marketed in the UK and Ireland (Clinitas, Clinitas range and Blepharitis range) which are commercialised through its own sales and marketing organisation and network. Clinitas and Clinitas GEL are prescription products for the treatment of moderate dry eye conditions and are gaining acceptance by clinicians nationwide. The Clinitas range, comprising Clinitas Hydrate, Clinitas Soothe and Clinitas Ultra 3, are also for treating the major causes of dry eye, and are sold to the retail market via pharmacists and opticians. The Blepharitis range loosens and removes Meibomian secretions, which underlie blepharitis.

Altacor is also launching EYEBAR in the UK, an AREDs formula chocolate for the maintenance of healthy vision.  AREDs is a well established formula that slows the progression of age related macular degeneration.

About Norgine

Norgine is a successful, independent European specialty pharmaceutical company that has been established for over 100 years and has a presence in all major European markets. In 2012, Norgine's net product sales were c€250 million and the company employs over 1,000 people.

Norgine's focus is the development and marketing of pharmaceutical products that address significant unmet clinical needs in therapeutic areas such as gastroenterology, hepatology, critical and supportive care.

Key marketed products include:

• MOVICOL^® for the treatment of constipation and faecal impaction
• MOVIPREP^® a bowel preparation for use prior to any procedure that requires a clean colon
• KLEAN-PREP^® for large bowel preparation prior to colonoscopy or surgery
• XIFAXAN^® (XIFAXANTA^®/TARGAXAN^®)for the treatment of travellers' diarrhoea and the reduction in recurrence of episodes of overt hepatic encephalopathy
• ORAMORPH^® for the treatment of moderate to severe pain associated with cancer
• SAVENE^® an orphan drug for the treatment of rare consequence of using anthracyclines (anti-cancer treatments)
• DANTRIUM^® IV for the treatment for malignant hyperthermia, a life threatening condition
• DANTRIUM^® capsules to treat spasticity resulting from upper motor neuron disorders
• XEROTIN^® artificial saliva for the management of xerostomia (dry mouth)
• PROTHER^® special medical food for cancer patients.

Norgine owns a manufacturing and development site in Hengoed, UK and a manufacturing site in Dreux, France. For more information: http://www.norgine.com.

Product under licence from Alfa Wassermann S.p.A. XIFAXAN and TARGAXAN are registered trademarks of the Alfa Wassermann group of companies, licensed to the Norgine group of companies.

Altacor Disclaimer

This release may contain certain forward-looking statements relating to Altacor. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they reflect Altacor's current expectations and assumptions as to future events and circumstances that may not prove accurate. A number of material factors could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.