Santhera Proposes Changes to its Board of Directors

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Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN), a Swiss specialty
pharmaceutical company focused on orphan neuromuscular diseases,
announced today proposed changes to its Board of Directors. The
Company nominates Jürg Ambühl as new member of its Board. Mr. Ambühl
is a long-standing pharmaceutical executive and brings extensive and
valuable commercial and marketing experience to support Santhera's
future corporate development. The appointment is subject to the
approval at the upcoming Annual Shareholder's Meeting scheduled for
April 27, 2009 in Basel, Switzerland.

Santhera's Board proposes its Shareholders to appoint Jürg Ambühl as
new member of the Company's Board for a term of two years until the
ordinary Shareholders Meeting in 2011. Mr. Ambühl is a Swiss citizen
and born in 1949. He is a seasoned marketing specialist with a long
track record in the pharmaceutical industry globally. Mr. Ambühl
holds a PhD in chemistry from the Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology, Zurich (ETH), Switzerland and an MBA from the INSEAD,
Fontainebleau, France. He started his professional career at Eli
Lilly's subsidiary in Germany, where, from 1978 to 1982, he held
several management positions in sales and marketing. From 1982 to
1987, Mr. Ambühl worked for McKinsey. From 1987 to 1989, he held
several senior management positions within MSD Sharp & Dohme in
Germany, lately as general manager with business responsibility for
the German market. From 2000 to 2001, Mr. Ambühl served as president
regional business Europe/international at Knoll/BASF Pharmaceuticals.
From 2001 to 2003, he served as chief executive officer of Metagen
Pharmaceuticals, a Berlin-based oncology spin-off of Schering. From
2003 to 2007, he worked in several senior management positions for
the Serono group, lastly as senior executive vice president global
marketing. In this capacity, he was responsible for worldwide
marketing strategies for all of Serono's products. Currently, Mr.
Ambühl is partner of Ares Life Sciences.

In addition, the Board proposes to re-elect Michael Lytton and Hans
Peter Hasler for a term of one year each (until the Annual
Shareholders' Meeting in 2010) and Timothy Rink for a term of three
years (until the Annual Shareholders' Meeting in 2012). Rudolf Gygax,
member of the Board since 2004 and serving also in the Board's Audit
Committee and Nomination & Compensation Committees, has decided not
to stand for re-election for personal reasons.

"We are very pleased to nominate such a prominent marketing
specialist as Jürg to our Board of Directors. His international
know-how in Marketing & Sales will add significantly to the Board's
expertise in this key area, as Santhera prepares its first commercial
launch in the US market. I am confident that Jürg will provide
important and valuable advice and I look forward to working with
him", said Michael Lytton, Chairman of the Board of Santhera. "We
express our sincerest thanks to Ruedi for his highly valued
contributions during many years. As representative of the Novartis
Venture Fund, he was a Board member of MyoContract, one of our two
predecessor companies, and in this function, fundamentally involved
in the founding and development of Santhera."

2008 Annual Report
The interactive version of Santhera's 2008 Annual Report is available
on the Company's Web site www.santhera.com/2008interactive. The
report can also be downloaded as pdf-file from
www.santhera.com/reports.

* * *

About Santhera
Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) is a Swiss specialty
pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and
commercialization of small-molecule pharmaceutical products for the
treatment of severe neuromuscular diseases, an area of high unmet
medical need which includes many orphan indications with no current
therapy. Santhera's first product, Catena® has received marketing
approval from Health Canada to treat Friedreich's Ataxia. The drug is
investigated in two fully recruited pivotal trials in the United
States and in Europe. The same compound has also shown efficacy in a
clinical trial as a potential treatment for Duchenne Muscular
Dystrophy. For further information, please visit the Company's Web
site www.santhera.com.

Catena® is a trademark of Santhera Pharmaceuticals.

For further information, contact
Klaus Schollmeier, Chief Executive Officer
Phone: +41 (0)61 906 89 52
klaus.schollmeier@santhera.com

Barbara Heller, Chief Financial Officer
Phone: +41 (0)61 906 89 54
barbara.heller@santhera.com

Thomas Staffelbach, Head Public & Investor Relations
Phone: +41 (0)61 906 89 47
thomas.staffelbach@santhera.com

Disclaimer/Forward-looking statements
This communication does not constitute an offer or invitation to
subscribe for or purchase any securities of Santhera Pharmaceuticals
Holding AG. This publication may contain certain forward-looking
statements concerning the Company and its business. Such statements
involve certain risks, uncertainties and other factors which could
cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or
achievements of the Company to be materially different from those
expressed or implied by such statements. Readers should therefore not
place undue reliance on these statements, particularly not in
connection with any contract or investment decision. The Company
disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

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Santhera Pharmaceuticals Holding AG
Hammerstrasse 47 Liestal
Switzerland

WKN: A0LCUK; ISIN: CH0027148649; Index: SPI, SPIEX, SSCI;
Listed:
Main Market in SIX Swiss Exchange;
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