TORONTO, Nov. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Patheon, Inc. (TSX: PTI), a global provider of drug development and manufacturing services to the international pharmaceutical industry announced today that it has named Francisco R. Negron as Vice President and general manager of its Puerto Rico operations. Mr. Negron will be based at the company's Manati site.

"Franco is the right person at the right time to manage our organization in Puerto Rico," said Mr. Wes Wheeler, Patheon's Chief Executive Officer and President. "His experience leading complex and highly efficient manufacturing teams for a variety of world class pharmaceutical organizations will help us transform our business in Puerto Rico and will support our stated goal of creating a strong manufacturing presence in that region. He has my full support and I look forward to his contributions to Patheon in the future."

Mr. Negron has more than 19 years of progressive experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He began his career with The Proctor & Gamble Company in Cayey, Puerto Rico. He has also worked for the former Rhone Poulenc Rorer plant in Manati, Puerto Rico. He served as vice president of manufacturing and supply for Valeant Pharmaceuticals and as site general manager for McNeil Consumer Healthcare LLC in Piedras, Puerto Rico. Most recently he served as global vice president for Novartis Consumer Health, OTC and Pharmaceutical Products, with a specific focus on global process improvement initiatives. Mr. Negron holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Puerto Rico.

ABOUT PATHEON

Patheon Inc. (TSX: PTI; www.patheon.com) is a leading global provider of contract development and manufacturing services to the global pharmaceutical industry. Patheon prides itself in providing the highest quality products and services to more than 300 of the world's leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Patheon's services range from preclinical development through commercial manufacturing of a full array of dosage forms including parenteral, solid, semi-solid and liquid forms. Patheon uses many innovative technologies including single-use disposables, liquid-filled hard capsules and a variety of modified release technologies. Patheon's comprehensive range of fully integrated Pharmaceutical Development Services includes pre-formulation, formulation, analytical development, clinical manufacturing, scale-up and commercialization. Patheon can take customers direct to clinic with global clinical packaging and distribution services and Patheon's Quick to Clinic(TM) programs can accelerate early phase development project to clinical trials while minimizing the consumption of valuable API. Patheon's integrated development and manufacturing network of 11 facilities, and eight development centers across North America and Europe, strives to ensure that customer products can be launched with confidence anywhere in the world.

SOURCE Patheon Inc.