LA MESA, Calif., Dec. 9, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Nicodrops, Inc. (Pink Sheets:NCDP), developer of the world's first drug-free, non-nicotine smoking cessation lozenge, announced that they have selected Joel Appel, best known for his work with Ultra Slim-Fast, as new Director of Sales and marketing for NCDP. Mr. Appel will also sit on the Nicodrops Advisory Board. Mr. Appel was selected not only for his reputation in the industry for putting Slim-Fast on the map but his vast knowledge of product placement and advertising to maximize all markets. To date, Mr. Appel has been working as a consultant for a number of mainstream retail-oriented products.
Mr. Appel brings to NCDP many years of experience in sales and marketing of OTC brands. He began his career at Proctor & Gamble serving in the position of Territory Manager, Unit Manager and District Manager. While at Proctor & Gamble, Mr. Appel introduced Pampers Disposable Diapers and won an award for selling the most disposable diapers in the United States. During the 70's, 80's and 90's Mr. Appel was involved in sales and marketing of some very familiar brands, Oxy 5, Tums, Aqua Net and Orajel, just to name a few. During the early 80's he was Senior Executive VP at Jeffrey Martin where he served on the Board of Directors. In the late 80's, Mr. Appel held the position of Senior VP of Sales with Thompson Medical where he was part of the team that introduced Ultra Slim-Fast. More recently Mr. Appel held the position of Senior VP of Sales with GenDerm Health Care. While at GenDerm he helped reposition ZOSTRIX and ZOSTRIX-HP from ethically promoted and positioned products to consumer (OTC) products. The brand grew from 6 million to over 20 million dollars in sales in less than two years.
"To bring someone of the caliber of Joel Appel on board demonstrates the vast potential of our product," said Christopher Calpito, president and CEO of Nicodrops, Inc. "His experience and industry contacts when it comes to marketing a product such as Nicodrops is beyond reproach. With Joel's assistance, we plan on taking full advantage of the aggressive anti-smoking campaigns currently taking place in the U.S, Europe and Canada by promoting Nicodrops as the lower priced, faster acting drug free solution to quit smoking."
Recently, Nicodrops announced it has formally received approval from the Canadian equivalent of the US FDA(1) the European Community (EC) to allow the company to distribute its proprietary products in the following 16 countries; Canada, UK, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
Note(1)(Correction the Canadian DIN number should have been DIN 02245097)
In addition, Nicodrops lozenge products are in the "Dietary Supplements" category for purposes of the United States market so it doesn't require FDA approval according to Calpito. Nicodrops products are governed by the Dietary Supplemental Health and Education Act.
Headquartered in La Mesa, CA, Nicodrops, Inc. has developed the very first drug-free, non-nicotine product which allows smokers to give up their habit faster and at a lower cost than their major competitors without the adverse side effects of nicotine. Nicodrops is an all-natural herb lozenge which helps to calm the nervous anxiety that is brought on by nicotine addiction. The company's lozenge products are based on patent protected proprietary technology which offers a safer alternative to all other nicotine based products in the marketplace today.