New CEO and EUR2.3m Private Placement for Atacama Labs Oy

Helsinki (ots/PRNewswire) - As of January 2010 Mr. Steffen
Mittwich has been appointed as new CEO for Atacama Labs Oy, a Finnish
specialty pharmaceutical company, which has developed a unique
pneumatic dry granulation method called PDG Technology(TM). Mr.
Mittwich is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

In his new role, Mr. Mittwich will focus on building up of the
company and establishing partnerships with galenic development and
contract manufacturing partners. In addition, his extensive
experience of pharmaceutical industry will be helpful in establishing
client cooperation and joint ventures.

Mr. Mittwich has worked in pharma industry since 1992 and has
held several management positions within major European and
international pharmaceutical companies, such as Sanofi-aventis,
Aventis Pharma, and Pfizer. His latest position at Sanofi-aventis was
Regional Business Director and CEO Winthrop Pharmaceuticals. Steffen
Mittwich is Industrial Economics Engineer from the Technical
University of Karlsruhe, Germany.

"I am very delighted of my appointment. It is not every day you
get a chance to lead into the market an excellent invention in base
technology with a fast developing company. For me, it is a real
entrepreneurial challenge which I love to take on," says Steffen
Mittwich.

Additionally, Atacama Labs Oy raised EUR2.3m additional capital
by private placement completed in January 2010, from both Finnish and
International private investors. "This capital investment enables
Atacama Labs to move from the R&D phase into the commercial phase,
and to launch the revolutionary PDG Technology for the traditional
drug manufacturing field," says Steffen Mittwich.

The members of Atacama's board of directors are Mr. Jari
Ovaskainen (former CEO/founder of iobox.com), Mr. Ari-Pekka Hameri
(Ph.D., Professor of Process Technology) and Mr. Gregoire Notz
(Geneva based investor). "Mr. Mittwich was selected out of numerous
executive candidates, and he has the required skills and the industry
background to steer Atacama Labs Oy into the commercial growth. We
are very excited to work with him," says Mr. Ovaskainen, Chairman of
the Board.

Atacama Labs pneumatic dry granulation or PDG Technology(TM) is
revolutionary in the sense that it offers exceptional advantages
compared to all existing granule/tablet manufacturing processes. "Our
clients can extend the patent life of expiring drugs, which can mean
several more years of protected sales of a blockbuster drug, or they
can also convert very difficult or almost impossible drug compound
materials into a perfected tablet. In both cases, economics can be
hundreds of millions in global additional revenue or more, naturally
subject to magnitude of drug revenue," Mr. Mittwich concludes.

Atacama's PDG Technology(TM) enables rapid development and
processing of all drug substances. The technology replaces the
traditional wet granulation technology, which is known as a complex
process and has always challenges in production quality and
operational control. The PDG equipment is fully automated and
installed in a cGMP compliant environment.

About Atacama Labs Oy

Atacama Labs Oy is a privately owned specialty pharmaceutical
company that develops, manufactures and commercializes enhanced
pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical products based on its
proprietary drug delivery technologies. The Company is located in
Helsinki, Finland. http://www.atacamalabs.com

ots Originaltext: Atacama Labs Oy
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
CONTACT: For further information, please contact: Steffen Mittwich,
CEO,Atacama Labs Oy, tel. +41-79-369-3410