BRISTOL, Tenn., Feb. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- King Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. (NYSE: KG) announced today that the Company has appointed Brian A.
Markison to the newly created Chief Operating Officer position. Mr. Markison,
upon joining King, together with company President Kyle P. Macione and Chief
Financial Officer James R. Lattanzi, will comprise the executive management
team reporting to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jefferson J. Gregory.
Mr. Gregory stated, "We are extremely pleased that Brian Markison has
agreed to join our executive management team as King's new Chief Operating
Officer beginning March 8, 2004. Brian will have primary responsibility for
King's commercial, technical, and scientific operations. The creation of this
new executive management position represents a significant facet of our
strategic objectives for continued growth." Mr. Gregory added, "With his
tremendous level of experience in our industry, having worked in a wide
variety of key executive management positions with one of the world's top
pharmaceutical companies, we believe that Brian is uniquely suited to assume
day-to-day responsibility for these vital functions at King."
Mr. Markison has distinguished himself for over 22 years in a variety of
strategic, sales, marketing, international, and domestic general management
positions within Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. Most recently, he served as
President of Bristol-Myers Squibb's Oncology, Virology and Oncology
Therapeutics Network businesses. Mr. Markison also led the successful
integration of Bristol-Myers Squibb's $7.8 billion acquisition of the DuPont
Pharmaceuticals Company in 2001 along with many other successful milestones in
corporate development.
Also, King announced that Harsha Murthy has joined the Company as
Corporate Head and Executive Vice President, Strategic Planning and Business
Development. Prior to joining King, Mr. Murthy served as Vice President of
Administration and Business Strategy and General Counsel at Eyetech
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. While at Eyetech he was part of the senior management
team that led the company's licensing of its lead compound in a partnership
with Pfizer, Inc., a transaction valued in excess of $700 million. With
nearly 20 years of experience as an executive and a corporate attorney, Mr.
Murthy also formerly was a Managing Director of GE Capital Services, served as
Fellow and Senior Counsel at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and
was a corporate and securities attorney with Latham & Watkins and Davis, Polk
& Wardwell in their New York offices. He graduated from Duke University summa
cum laude in 1981, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the
commencement speaker, and from Stanford Law School in 1984, where he was
associate managing editor of the Stanford Law Review.
Mr. Gregory commented, "Mr. Murthy will work with King's executive
management team to continue to refine and develop King's long-term strategic
objectives and to identify and execute business transactions that continue to
leverage the extensive capabilities of King's successful pharmaceutical
business. With his vast strategic and transactional experience, inside and
outside the pharmaceutical industry, Mr. Murthy provides King with additional
valuable expertise as we continue to effectively execute the Company's
business strategies."
King, headquartered in Bristol, Tennessee, is a vertically integrated
branded pharmaceutical company. King, an S&P 500 Index company, seeks to
capitalize on opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry through the
development, including through in-licensing arrangements and acquisitions, of
novel branded prescription pharmaceutical products in attractive markets and
the strategic acquisition of branded products that can benefit from focused
promotion and marketing and product life-cycle management.
This release contains forward-looking statements, which reflect
management's current views of future events and operations, including, but not
limited to, statements pertaining to Mr. Markison joining King as Chief
Operating Officer beginning March 8, 2004; and the ability of King's
management to continue to refine and develop King's long-term strategic
objectives and successfully execute the Company's business strategies. These
forward-looking statements involve certain significant risks and
uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from the forward-
looking statements. Some important factors which may cause results to differ
include: dependence on Mr. Markison joining King as the Company's Chief
Operating Officer as planned; dependence on King's ability to continue to
acquire branded products, including products in development, that further
enhance the Company's potential for growth; dependence on King's ability to
continue to successfully execute the Company's proven growth strategies and to
continue to capitalize on strategic opportunities in the future for sustained
long-term growth; dependence on the potential effect of future acquisitions
and other transactions pursuant to our growth strategies; dependence on
management of King's growth and integration of its acquisitions; dependence on
the development of successful marketing strategies that result in growth in
net sales of King's products, including, but not limited to, Altace(R)
(ramipril), Skelaxin(R) (metaxolone), Levoxyl(R) (levothyroxine sodium
tablets, USP), and Sonata(R) (zaleplon); dependence on King's ability to
maintain effective patent protection for current formulations of Altace(R),
Skelaxin(R), and Levoxyl(R); dependence on King's ability to maintain and/or
establish effective patent protection for potential new formulations of
Altace(R), Skelaxin(R), and Sonata(R); dependence on the availability and cost
of raw materials; dependence on no material interruptions in supply by
contract manufacturers of King's products; dependence on the potential effect
on sales of our existing branded pharmaceutical products as a result of the
potential development and approval of a generic substitute for any such
product or other new competitive products; dependence on the high cost and
uncertainty of research, clinical trials, and other development activities
involving pharmaceutical products, including, but not limited to, King
Pharmaceuticals Research and Development's pre-clinical and clinical
pharmaceutical product development projects, dependence on our compliance with
U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") and other government regulations
that relate to our business; and dependence on changes in general economic and
business conditions, changes in federal and state laws and regulations, and
manufacturing capacity constraints. Other important factors that may cause
actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements are
discussed in the "Risk Factors" section and other sections of King's Form 10-K
for the year ended December 31, 2002 and Form 10-Q for the third quarter ended
September 30, 2003, which are on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission. King does not undertake to publicly update or revise any of its
forward-looking statements even if experience or future changes show that the
indicated results or events will not be realized.
SOURCE King Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.kingpharm.com
CONTACT:
James E. Green, Executive Vice President,
Corporate Affairs of King Pharmaceuticals, +1-423-989-8125
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