Sunnyvale, CA – American Peptide Company, a leading provider of peptides and peptide conjugates to the pharmaceutical and life science industries, announced today the appointment of Minoru Sakakibara as the new President and CEO of the company. Mr. Sakakibara’s predecessor, Takahiro Ogata, has been promoted to CEO of ILS Inc., the parent company of American Peptide Company.

These appointments will strengthen the leadership of the peptide contract manufacturing organization.

Mr. Sakakibara was previously part of the Senior Management of Otsuka Chemical Company where he worked in the Strategic Planning Department.

Mr. Ogata joined American Peptide Company in 1999 and became President of the company in 2007. As CEO of ILS Inc., he will direct the global manufacturing operations of the group.

“Mr. Sakakibara has the experience and vision to guide American Peptide Company as they grow and increase their peptide manufacturing capacity,” says Takahiro Ogata, CEO of ILS Inc.

The company is increasing the number of its employees and its capacity to manufacture research grade peptides and cGMP peptide Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients to accommodate the rising demand for their products and services.

About American Peptide Company, Inc.

American Peptide Company (APC) is a leading manufacturer of peptides and peptide conjugates. The company offers comprehensive selections of pre-manufactured catalog peptides, custom synthesis, and GMP peptide active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Our California based manufacturing facilities offer synthesis services under Non GMP (Sunnyvale, California) and cGMP (Vista, California) conditions. Our cGMP manufacturing is performed under strict adherence to FDA Regulations 21 CFR parts 210, 211 and ICH Guidance Q7A. Our Total Peptide Management services support clients in the drug development process from pre-clinical thru commercial stage. Our value added services include process development, scale up production, analytical/process validation, stability studies, CMC, DMF, and regulatory support.

APC is proficient in solid-phase and solution-phase peptide synthesis, as well as organic conjugations, proteins and PEGylation. APC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ILS Inc., a member of the Otsuka Chemical Company of Japan. APC has offices in the U.S. and representatives in Japan, South Korea, the UK, and China. APC has recently enhanced our large scale cGMP manufacturing capabilities with additional synthesis and purification suites, a 12” RP-HPLC column and a 200 liter tray lyophilizer.

For more information, please visit http://www.americanpeptide.com.