Copenhagen, 2012-12-03 17:19 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 

ALK has finalised the planning of the initiatives to streamline its business
structure that were announced on 12 November in the nine-month interim report
(Q3) 2012 as part of ALK’s updated strategy. 

As previously informed, the initiatives under the Simplify programme will
entail restructuring costs of approximately DKK 100 million up to 2016. ALK can
now disclose that approximately DKK 60-70 million of these restructuring costs
are expected to be recognised in 2012. 

The costs are related to a streamlining of the European sales and marketing
organisation as well as to a simplification of the production, as ALK will
gradually phase out and close down three production facilities and consolidate
the activities in centres of excellence. Furthermore, the business structure
will be streamlined in other areas, including Finance and IT functions which
will be organised in global functions. These changes imply that 120-130
positions will be made redundant over the next few years. 

As a result of the above, ALK expects to recognise costs of approximately DKK
60-70 million in a special items line in its income statement for 2012. EBITDA
before special items is still expected to exceed DKK 300 million and total
revenue of up to DKK 2.4 billion is still expected for 2012. 

The initiatives under the Simplify programme will lead to cost savings of
approximately DKK 100 million net per year to be seen gradually from 2013 and
with full effect from 2016. In addition, the streamlining of the sales and
marketing organisation will result in savings that will be reinvested in
concrete growth initiatives to ensure ALK continued growth. 

                                 ALK-Abelló A/S

                                   Jens Bager
                                President and CEO



For further information please contact:
Jens Bager, President and CEO, tel. +45 4574 7576
Investor Relations: Per Plotnikof, tel. +45 4574 7527, mobile +45 2261 2525
Press: Martin Barlebo, tel. +45 4574 7901, mobile +45 2064 1143

About ALK
ALK is a research-driven global pharmaceutical company focusing on allergy
prevention, diagnosis and treatment. ALK is the world leader in allergy
immunotherapy – a unique treatment of the underlying cause of allergy. The
company has approximately 1,800 employees with subsidiaries, production
facilities and distributors worldwide. ALK has entered into partnership
agreements with Merck and Torii to commercialise allergy immunotherapy tablets
in North America and Japan, respectively. The company is headquartered in
Hørsholm, Denmark, and listed on the NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen A/S. Find more
information at www.alk.net.