Munich/Dublin, 16 February 2009 – The pharmaceutical company DAIICHI SANKYO EUROPE has appointed Richard Smith (36) as managing director of it´s affiliate in Ireland. Smith, who started working on the 9th of February, is born in Ireland and has a Bachelor of Science plus a PhD in Pharmacology and Molecular Genetics. He has more than 9 years of experience in different functions within the Irish pharmaceutical industry. Most recently he worked as national sales director Ireland for the Danish pharmaceutical company Lundbeck.

“Dr. Smith knows Ireland extremely well and is an excellent pharmaceutical manager,” says Reinhard Bauer, CEO of DAIICHI SANKYO EUROPE. “By hiring him, we have really strengthened our business in Ireland.”

DAIICHI SANKYO EUROPE established the Irish subsidiary in September 2008. 14 former members of the cardiometabolic team at Merck Serono Ltd. joined the new affiliate in November 2008. The headquarter of DAIICHI SANKYO IRELAND Ltd. is in Dublin. The current portfolio consists of the osteoporosis drug EVISTA® (Raloxifen), CARDICOR® and EMCOR® (Bisoprolol) to treat heart failure and hypertension respectively.

As part of a co-promotion agreement with Merck Serono Ltd., DAIICHI SANKYO IRELAND Ltd. will sell the diabetes drug GLUCOPHAGE® (Metformin). Over the next years, the range of products in Ireland is to be expanded extensively, particularly with medications to treat cardiovascular disease that are emerging from the company’s own research pipeline.

CONTACT
Dr. Thomas Portz

Corporate Communications

Phone +49(0)89/78 08-468

thomas.portz@daiichi-sankyo.eu

Thorsten Schüller 
Media Relations 
Phone +49(0)89/78 08-657 
thorsten.schueller@daiichi-sankyo.eu

^{Forward-looking statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements and information about future developments in the sector, and the legal and business conditions of DAIICHI SANKYO EUROPE GmbH. Such forward-looking statements are uncertain and are subject at all times to the risks of change, particularly to the usual risks faced by a global pharmaceutical company, including the impact of the prices for products and raw materials, medication safety, changes in exchange rates, government regulations, employee relations, taxes, political instability and terrorism as well as the results of independent demands and governmental inquiries that affect the affairs of the company. All forward-looking statements contained in this release hold true as of the date of publication. They do not represent any guarantee of future performance. Actual events and developments could differ materially from the forward-looking statements that are explicitly expressed or implied in these statements. DAIICHI SANKYO EUROPE GmbH assumes no responsibility for the updating of such forward-looking statements about future developments of the sector, legal and business conditions and the company.}