Stm re Competition Commission

Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC
15 April 2003


Issued by Citigate Dewe Rogerson Ltd, Birmingham
Date: Tuesday 15 April 2003

                                                               IMMEDIATE RELEASE



                           Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC
 Initial response to the Report into the supply of prescription-only veterinary
                              medicines in the UK


On Friday 11 April 2003, The Competition Commission ('CC') released its Report
following its inquiry into the supply within the UK of prescription-only
veterinary medicines ('POM's') which was referred by the OFT in October 2001.

The Board welcomes the publication of the Report and are pleased to note that,
whilst NVS supplies more than 25% of all POM's at the wholesale level and meets
the definition of a scale monopoly, the CC confirmed in its Report that this
scale monopoly situation is not operating against the public interest.

Although the Report includes a number of detailed recommendations relating
principally to the conduct of veterinary practices and regulatory issues, the
Directors of Dechra believe that any impact on the Group's business will be
neutral. In addition, the Report's recommendations that veterinary wholesalers
such as NVS supply POM's to pharmacies and the proposal that would allow any
veterinary medicine authorised through the decentralised procedure in the UK to
be imported into the UK from any other EU member state provide further
opportunities for the Group. Further advantage can be gained from the proposed
regulatory changes to reduce the cost and speed up the process of bringing new
POM's to the market.

Michael Redmond, Chairman, Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC commented:

'NVS's leading market position has been achieved organically principally through
operational efficiencies and the high levels of service and support we provide
to our customers and we are pleased that the CC concluded that we are not
operating against the public interest.'

'The inquiry has been ongoing for over eighteen months and has been a
distraction in terms of management time and has unsettled the market. The
findings of the Report clearly offer the Group a number of opportunities but
more importantly it removes any uncertainty the market may have had on the
Group's position.'



Enquiries:

Michael Redmond, Chairman                          Fiona Tooley (07785 703523)
Simon Evans, Group Finance Director (07775 642220) Katie Dale (07980 274 790)

Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC                         Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Tel: [phone]                                  Tel: [phone]
www.dechra.com



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