EKR Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held specialty pharmaceutical company focused on providing critical care products for the hospital setting, today announced that John E. Bailye, founder and former chairman of Dendrite International, has been elected to its Board of Directors as Executive Chairman. This increases the EKR Board to eight members, consisting of three executive and five non-executive directors.

Concurrently, and in recognition of EKR’s dramatic successes to date and in preparation for the next stage of development, the Company said that it has strategically created separate offices of chairperson and CEO. Accordingly, EKR co-founder and CEO Howard Weisman will now also actively serve as President; thereby, focusing greater corporate resources on the day-to-day operations of the Company’s rapidly expanding business.

Given EKR’s assent from start up, just some three years ago, into a profitable, $200+ million company with over 100 employees and an expanding portfolio of acute-care products, the separation of chairperson and CEO roles represents a milestone in the EKR corporate strategy to foster sustainable long-term growth. Benefits from the separation of powers include:

• Enhanced corporate governance, more transparency and, in turn, greater opportunities to best represent the interests of current investors and potential future shareholders
• Allows Chairman and CEO to focus on different, but equally vital aspects of performance with the former engaged more with external items such as EKR’s representation to the financial community, whereas, the CEO leads internally
• Avoids potential single minded imbalance of power and provides opportunity to leverage complementary strengths of Chairman and CEO to enhance strategic initiatives
• Increases the number of executive directors on the Board, thus, representing an important step in providing management greater independence in charting the corporate growth course

Howard Weisman, commenting on today’s announcement, noted that “John Bailye is a forward thinker who possesses exceptional knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry, and we are all very pleased to welcome John to the Board and the EKR management team.”

“Moreover, as Executive Chairman, John brings to EKR a new and important dimension of experiences,” said Weisman. “This includes his success in transitioning Dendrite from a private company into a public, globally recognized leader in providing Customer Relationship Management solutions to the pharmaceutical industry.” At the time of its merger into Paris based Cegedim S.A. (Euronext:CGM) in May 2007, Dendrite’s market cap exceeded $700 million, the company employed nearly 3,000 people in approximately 60 countries, and its client base included the world’s top 20 pharmaceutical companies.

John Bailye commented saying, “EKR has experienced nothing less than phenomenal growth under Howard’s leadership. I am excited about working with him, the Board, and the EKR team in contributing to the collective corporate goal of establishing EKR as the pre-eminent provider of acute-care specialty pharmaceuticals.”

“We are on the threshold of writing an exciting new chapter in the EKR growth story,” said Bailye. “I am convinced that sustainable long-term growth is readily achievable given the amazingly strong team of professionals at EKR, many having collaborated with Howard in previously driving the success of ESP Pharma.” Co-founded in 2002 by Weisman, ESP pursued a business model similar to EKR and by March 2005, within three years of start up and with revenues approaching $100 million, ESP was acquired by PDL Biopharma (NASDAQ:PDLI) in a transaction valued at approximately $500 million.

About John E. Bailye

Originally from Australia, John Bailye founded Dendrite in 1986 to pioneer the development of software applications for pharmaceutical sales force management. A year later he relocated Dendrite’s headquarters to New Jersey and has since been a leading supporter of entrepreneurship and technology growth in the State, having served as a founding member and chairman of the New Jersey Technology Council. He received the Golden Door Award from the New Jersey International Institute and was twice honored with Ernst & Young's New Jersey Software and Technology Entrepreneur of the Year® award. In 2003, Business Review Weekly named him as one of the top 20 influential Australians in the United States.

Through his innovative techniques, John grew Dendrite from $175,000 in annual sales in 1987, to more than $420 million in 2006. The company received wide industry acclaim and was listed among the 200 best small companies in 2005 by Forbes magazine in addition to being ranked 44 among the 100 fastest growing companies in the United States by Fortune Magazine in 2000. In May 2007, Dendrite was sold for nearly $800 million.

John is a graduate of the University of New South Wales. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in finance, marketing, and business.

About Howard Weisman

Prior to co-founding EKR Therapeutics, Howard Weisman co-founded ESP Partners, LLP, the predecessor to ESP Pharma which was formed in 2002 as a specialty pharmaceutical company to identify, acquire, and develop specialty acute-care products, a growth model similar to that of EKR. He served as Director, President and COO for ESP Pharma from its start-up, overseeing an approximate four-fold increase in revenues, until its 2005 acquisition by PDL Biopharma. Despite being an independent company for less than three years, ESP was honored twice, first in 2004 and then in 2005, as one of the Top 25 Best Small Companies to Work for in America.

A veteran pharmaceutical executive, Howard previously held positions in hospital sales and marketing management for Merck & Co before joining Parke-Davis Pharmaceuticals where he served as Senior Director, Diabetes Marketing and as Senior Director of Strategic Partnership Development.

In 2008, Howard was recognized by PharmaVOICE in their listing of the 100 Most Inspiring People in the Healthcare Sciences. Later in June 2009, Ernst & Young bestowed upon Howard the prestigious Entrepreneur Of The Year award for the New Jersey region in the category of pharmaceuticals. Howard holds a B.A. degree in Chemistry from Rutgers University.

About EKR Therapeutics

EKR Therapeutics is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on identifying, fostering and targeting the growth of acute-care products offering hospital professionals broader therapeutic options and greater control to improve patient care, speed recovery times, and achieve optimal outcomes. Backed by the strength of its management team, the dedication of its field force of product specialists and its commitment to excellence in customer service and medical education, EKR has been organized to be a class leader in commercializing products to address unmet and under-satisfied medical needs or to otherwise enhance the therapeutic value of acute-care products. A privately held company, EKR has investment support from the leading venture capital and private equity firms of ESP Equity Partners, LLR Partners, NewSpring Capital, MPM Capital, and Quaker BioVentures. For additional information about EKR visit the Company’s website at www.ekrtx.com.