Michael E. Laird appointed New Chief Executive Officer of Pierrel Research USA and Chief Marketing Officer of Pierrel Research International

Milan, 1 June 2010 – Pierrel S.p.A., the global pharmaceutical service provider, announced the appointment of Michael E. Laird as Chief Executive Officer of the subsidiary Pierrel Research USA, a strategic area for the development of the company. Michael E. Laird has been furthermore appointed Worldwide Chief Marketing Officer of Pierrel Research International, reporting directly to Luigi Visani, CEO of Pierrel S.p.A. and will be in charge of the global and marketing strategies for all the initiatives related to the business development, brand management, advertising and communications.

Mr. Laird is a very successful executive in contract research industry (CROs). Prior to joining Pierrel Research, Mr. Laird was Senior Vice President, Global Business Development at PharmaNet Inc., where he was responsible for the acquisition, development and management of their multi Hundred Millions dollars CRO service sales on global scale. Mr. Laird also held senior level positions at Kendle International, Procter and Gamble Pharmaceuticals, Marion Merrell Dow, and Smith Kline and French among others.

“Mike has an extensive knowledge of the pharmaceutical services industry and a proven track record of excellence in achieving business objectives while leading process improvement and strategic planning initiatives that are vital to short- and long-term business success," said Luigi Visani, CEO of Pierrel S.p.A.. "Mike has a rare combination of leadership skill, customer knowledge and strategic planning expertise -- all of which are necessary to lead our global business development efforts. His experience in both the CRO and Pharma industries has given him a unique perspective on the needs and expectations of our customers, and will leverage considerable opportunities for company growth around the world. I'm extremely pleased that Pierrel Research was able to attract an exceptional executive like Mike .”

“I’ve been very fortunate in my career to date, to work for some of the best organizations in the CROs industry. The opportunity to work with Pierrel now gives me the chance to be involved with a company that is not only growing rapidly, but is also making a real change in the global pharmaceutical services market - said Mr Laird, CEO of Pierrel Research USA - Pierrel has done an amazing job in designing the company's components to be an integrated contract research , contract manufacturing and pharmaceutical development entity. This is an exciting time for the company and I am extremely pleased to be joining Pierrel Research at this important juncture of the business.”

Mr. Laird will replace Dr. David Ginsberg MD, the outgoing CEO of Pierrel Research USA, who has been successful in establishing the North America Pierrel Research outstanding team, and who will continue to cooperate with the Company.