The Chiesi Group Lands in the Uni...( PARMA Italy May 7 /- The Parma Gr...)

PARMA, Italy, May 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The Parma Group has reacquired the marketing rights to its own drug Curosurf and is laying the groundwork to acquire control of the American pharmaceutical company Cornerstone; it will be setting up its twenty-third associated company in the world's largest pharmaceuticals market. This presence in the USA will prepare the way for future synergies and new projects in the area of respiratory illnesses.

The Chiesi Group has completed two agreements with two U.S. pharmaceutical companies, under which it is starting to create its own marketing presence in the US market.

The contract signed with Dey Mylan calls for Chiesi, in the coming months, to take over the rights to market Curosurf in the U.S. market; Curosurf is the world's leading drug for treating respiratory distress syndrome in premature babies.

The contract signed with Cornerstone Therapeutics Inc.(NASDAQ CM: CRTX) calls for acquiring control over the Cary (North Carolina) company and integrating into its staff the sales reps who are now promoting Curosurf in the community of American neonatologists.

The result of the two agreements paves the way for consolidating Chiesi's marketing presence in the USA, where the Group is already present with a clinical research unit in Rockville (Maryland).

"The possibility of bringing sales of Curosurf in the U.S.A. back to Chiesi, together with the opportunity of acquiring control over Cornerstone, will allow us in the coming months to establish a new associated company in the U.S.A, which is by far the largest and most advanced pharmaceuticals market in the world," commented Alberto Chiesi, the Group's chairman and CEO.

The inclusion of the entire sales team already working on Curosurf into the organisational and marketing structure of Cornerstone makes us confident of further growth for our drug in the U.S.A., where it is a
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