Glide Pharma announces New Board and Management Team Appointments
Pharmaceutical Industry Professionals bring Deal making Expertise

Glide PharmaTM, the specialty pharmaceutical company developing products based on its innovative needle-free drug delivery system, today announced that it has strengthened its Board, with the appointment of Charles Swingland, and its senior management team, with the appointment of Dr Simon Bennett.

Charles Swingland, an experienced, former director of leading pharmaceutical companies such as PowderJect Pharmaceuticals plc and Zeneus Pharma, has joined Glide Pharma as a non-executive director and also taken an equity stake in the Oxfordshire based Company. Dr Simon Bennett, who has held senior management positions in public and private life sciences companies, including the University of Oxford spin-out, Oxagen, and genomics specialist, Solexa, has been appointed Business Development Director.

The new appointments follow Glide Pharma’s successful £2.1m fundraising last December, and the Company’s recent announcement that it is pursuing a twin-track strategy of co-developing new drug products with pharmaceutical partners based on the GlideTM technology, in addition to a pipeline of its own brand Glide Pharma products. The Company has consolidated this strategy with its re-branding, changing its name from Caretek Medical to Glide Pharma in September.

Both Swingland and Bennett are expected to play key roles in the negotiation of agreements that could see Glide Pharma formulate the proprietary drugs of partners into new solid dosage formats suitable for injection with the needle-free GlideTM technology - providing major pharmaceutical companies with a range of new products. Big pharma partners could also use the user-friendly Glide actuator device to deliver their own brand products, particularly those intended for home administration, in place of the conventional needle and syringe.

Glide Pharma is progressing well with the development of its first own-brand product, an injectable form of sumatriptan, which is used to relieve migraine attacks. Most migraine sufferers take sumatriptan as an oral tablet or nasal spray but when faster or more reliable relief is needed, the drug must be administered as an injection. The only injectable form of sumatriptan currently on the market is delivered via a needle-based auto-injector but if Glide Pharma’s plans come to fruition, migraine sufferers could use the needle-free Glide device to administer a solid form of sumatriptan and obtain fast relief from their symptoms.

The Glide device, which has been endorsed by both trial volunteers and GPs, eliminates the hazards of needle stick injuries and disposal problems associated with syringes. It is reusable and has a prefilled, disposable drug cassette attached. This cassette section can be thrown away with normal household waste after use and replaced with a fresh cassette holding the next dose.

CEO of Glide Pharma, Dr Charles Potter, said: “We are making good progress with our own brand products and expect to start clinical trials with our first product in early 2007.”

“Charles and Simon combine valuable deal making expertise with significant pharmaceutical experience - skills that will enable us to take forward the substantial commercial opportunities for co-development of new drugs with major pharmaceutical players. I am delighted that they have joined the team.”

Charles Swingland, 53, was formerly executive director and general counsel at PowderJect Pharmaceuticals plc, with responsibility for the negotiation of major transactions including licensing agreements, joint ventures, acquisitions and sales. He oversaw two public fundraising rounds totalling £77m and the sale of PowderJect to Chiron Corporation for £550m. Mr Swingland was also an executive director and general counsel at Zeneus Pharma Ltd, a European specialist in hospital products for critical care, oncology and pain management, where he led the sale of Zeneus to Cephalon Inc for $360m in December 2005.

Mr Swingland said: “I look forwar

Publisher Contact Information:

Glide Pharmaceutical Technologies Ltd (formerly Caretek Medical Ltd.)
+44 (0)1865 811199
m.henry@oxin.co.uk

Company profile of Glide Pharmaceutical Technologies Ltd (formerly Caretek Medical Ltd.)
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