Schering-Plough Announces Appointments in Global Pharmaceutical Business

KENILWORTH, N.J., Sept. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Schering-Plough Corporation announced today that Tony Alvarez has been appointed to the newly created position of vice president, Commercial Operations, Schering-Plough in Japan (known as Schering-Plough Kabushiki Kaisha - SPKK), reporting to Mark Torii, president, SPKK, Japan. In this role, Alvarez will be responsible for commercial activities supporting the global pharmaceutical business in Japan, where he will be based.

Alvarez has more than 20 years' experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He joined Schering-Plough in 2003 as vice president, Global Business Planning and Services, following a career with Pharmacia Corporation (and its predecessor companies Pharmacia & Upjohn and The Upjohn Company), where he headed Global Business Planning and Operations. While at Pharmacia, Alvarez served as country manager for Central America and head of regional marketing, training and operations for Latin America and Asia Pacific. Alvarez holds a bachelor's degree in pharmacy from St. John's University, New York.

Succeeding Alvarez is Daniel Wechsler, who has been appointed vice president, Global Planning and Services, effective immediately. In this role, Wechsler will provide strategic leadership for global planning and field force operations. He is based in Kenilworth and reports to Bruce Reid, senior vice president, Global Business Operations.

Prior to joining Schering-Plough in June 2005, Wechsler held the position of vice president, Sales, Specialty at Pfizer, Inc. He has extensive experience in sales management, sales training and marketing in the pharmaceutical industry.

Wechsler holds a bachelor's degree in Philosophy with a minor in Chemistry from the State University of New York at Brockport and a master's degree in Philosophy from the University of Rochester.

Schering-Plough is a global science-based health care company with leading prescription, consumer and animal health products. Through internal research and collaborations with partners, Schering-Plough discovers, develops, manufactures and markets advanced drug therapies to meet important medical needs. Schering-Plough's vision is to earn the trust of the physicians, patients and customers served by its more than 30,000 people around the world. The company is based in Kenilworth, N.J., and its Web site is http://www.schering-plough.com/. Schering-Plough Japan is a country operation of Schering-Plough.