PALO ALTO, Calif., July 24 /EMWNews/ -- Horizon Therapeutics, Inc.,

a privately held biopharmaceutical company, today announced that Timothy P.

Walbert has been named president, chief executive officer and member of the

board of directors of Horizon Therapeutics.



    "Tim has a long, proven track record of successfully commercializing

multi-billion dollar drugs in the pain and arthritis areas," said George

Tidmarsh, M.D., Ph.D., founder, scientific consultant and board member of

Horizon. "Tim has the perfect background to lead our company as we move

toward the unblinding of the Phase 3 clinical data for our lead product

candidate HZT-501, a proprietary formulation of ibuprofen combined with

famotidine in a single pill. We are thrilled to have someone of his caliber

joining Horizon."



    Mr. Walbert has nearly two decades of executive, general management,

marketing and sales experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech

industries. Mr. Walbert is currently president and chief executive officer

of IDM Pharma (Nasdaq: IDMI), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the

development of innovative products that activate the immune system to treat

cancer. Prior to IDM Pharma, Mr. Walbert served as executive vice

president, commercial operations at NeoPharm, Inc.



    Mr. Walbert previously was at Abbott where he served as divisional vice

president and general manager of Abbott Immunology and divisional vice

president of global cardiovascular marketing. Under his leadership, he was

responsible for the creation of Abbott Immunology through the approval,

launch and commercialization of HUMIRA(R) for the treatment of rheumatoid

arthritis in the United States, Europe and other countries. HUMIRA became

the most successful launch in Abbott's history, achieving sales of more

than $1.4 billion by 2005 and is expected to exceed $3 billion in 2008.



    Mr. Walbert also served as director, Celebrex(R) North America and

arthritis team leader, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Canada at

Searle/Pharmacia. He coordinated Celebrex activities in Canada, Australia,

and Latin America where aggregate sales grew to nearly $400 million in

2000, making it one of the most successful pharmaceutical products launched

in many of those countries. Mr. Walbert also held a number of other key

marketing and sales positions with Searle/Pharmacia, which included the

U.S. launch of Arthrotec(R), a combination arthritis/pain product which

generated more than $200 million in first year sales in 1998 and Daypro(R),

an arthritis/pain product which generated more than $300 million in peak

U.S. sales.



    "I am excited by the opportunity to lead Horizon and help bring a new

therapeutic option to market that may offer patients effective pain relief

with GI-protection," said Mr. Walbert. "Approximately 25 percent of regular

NSAID users may develop stomach ulcers and there continues to be a

significant unmet treatment need for effective pain relief while lowering a

patient's risk of developing these ulcers. Horizon is well positioned to

address this need and become a market leader."

    About Horizon Therapeutics



    Horizon Therapeutics, Inc. is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company

focused on the development and commercialization of therapies for the

treatment of mild-to-moderate pain and arthritis. Horizon's clinical

portfolio includes innovative combination therapies in early- and

late-stage development that are designed to improve safety, efficacy, and

patient compliance. For more information about the company and its

products, please visit http://www.horizontherapeutics.com.