PATHEON ANNOUNCES LEADERSHIP CHANGE

TORONTO, Dec. 1 /CNW/ - Patheon (TSX: PTI) announced today that Wesley P. Wheeler has left  the company. Mr. Wheeler was Patheon's Chief Executive Officer and President.

Ramsey Frank, Patheon's Chairman stated, "We want to thank Wes for his contributions to establishing Patheon as a leading provider of contract development and manufacturing services to the global pharmaceutical industry.  Patheon has become a financially strong company and demonstrates solid performance. Now, the Board of Directors feels that the company has reached a stage where new leadership is required to help Patheon realize its full potential as an industry leader."          

The company also announced the appointment of Peter Bigelow, President of Patheon's North American operations, as interim Chief Executive Officer.

"The Board has a high degree of confidence in Peter and the company's Executive Committee to continue to lead Patheon.  An external recruiting firm has been retained to conduct a search for a new CEO," Mr. Frank added.                                                                                       

ABOUT PATHEON

Patheon is a leading global provider of contract development and manufacturing services to the global pharmaceutical industry.  It provides the highest quality products and services to approximately 300 of the world's leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.  Patheon's services range from preclinical development through commercial manufacturing of a full array of dosage forms including parenteral, solid, semi-solid and liquid forms. The company uses many innovative technologies including single-use disposables, liquid-filled hard capsules and a variety of modified release technologies.   Its comprehensive range of fully integrated Pharmaceutical Development Services includes pre-formulation, formulation, analytical development, clinical manufacturing, scale-up and commercialization.  Patheon can take customers direct to clinic with global clinical packaging and distribution services and Patheon's Quick to Clinic™ programs can accelerate early phase development projects to clinical trials while minimizing the consumption of valuable API.  Its integrated development and manufacturing network of 11 facilities and eight development centers, across North America and Europe, ensures that customer products can be launched on-time and with confidence anywhere in the world. 

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For further information:

Patheon Contacts:
Peter Bigelow
Interim-Chief Executive Officer
Tel: [phone]
Email: [email protected]

Ramsey Frank
Chairman of the Board, Patheon Inc.
Tel: [phone]

Wendy Wilson
Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
Tel: [phone]
Email: [email protected]