LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J.  -- Aton Pharma, Inc., a diversified specialty pharmaceutical company, announced today that Michael H. Richardson has joined the company as Vice President, Commercial Operations for the newly formed Orphan Drug Business Unit.

Donald A. Fishbein assumes the same role for the Ophthalmic Business Unit.

A wholly owned subsidiary of Princeton Pharma Holdings LLC, Aton is focused on the development and commercialization of unique products in ophthalmology and orphan diseases.

Mr. Richardson holds responsibility of the company's orphan drug portfolio, which includes well-established specialty pharmaceuticals treating a range of rare and life-threatening conditions (Mephyton®, Edecrin®, Sodium Edecrin®, Cuprimine®, Syprine®, Demser®).

Mr. Richardson possesses nearly 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical marketing, sales, product planning and business development. Prior to joining Aton, he was a Group Director of Marketing and Senior Director of Worldwide Product Planning for Cephalon. In those roles, Mr. Richardson was responsible for the successful launch of multiple products.

"With both product and corporate management experience, Michael Richardson brings tremendous commercial leadership to Aton Pharma," said Michael G. Wells, Chief Executive Officer of Aton Pharma. "He is well rounded in all aspects of pharmaceutical marketing and preparing new products for launch. This experience will provide tremendous value to the company as we expand our orphan drug portfolio."

Prior to Cephalon, Mr. Richardson was a Director of Global Strategic Marketing at Johnson & Johnson where he worked on optimizing the life cycle of several strategic products. Also at Johnson & Johnson he served in New Product Planning. Prior to Johnson & Johnson, Mr. Richardson was in Sales for Merck & Co., Inc. He holds a B.A. degree in Chemistry from West Virginia University and a M.B.A. from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

About Aton Pharma, Inc.

Aton Pharma, Inc., headquartered in Lawrenceville, NJ, is a global, diversified specialty pharmaceutical company providing essential treatments for under-treated diseases. Aton's mission is to improve patient outcomes and quality of life worldwide by enhancing and expanding access and availability of medically essential therapeutics. Aton's portfolio of products, with sales in over 30 countries, focuses on ophthalmic diseases and orphan conditions. For more information, see www.atonrx.com.