BASILEA continues to strengthen research and development

Professor Jutta Heim, former head of Novartis lead discovery, appointed Chief Scientific Officer Basilea


BASEL, Switzerland, Feb. 12, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Pharmaceutica Ltd announced today that it has appointed Professor Jutta Heim as Chief Scientific Officer and Dr. Ingrid Heinze-Krauss as Chief Technology Officer. Professor Heim trained at Tubingen in Germany, Rockefeller University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA. She was previously Head of the Novartis Lead Discovery Center and is Professor of Biotechnology at the Biocenter in Basel.

"Professor Heim's appointment to lead Basilea research is a key element of our plan to strengthen our fully integrated R & D organization, " said Anthony Man MD, CEO. "Professor Heim, who has brought numerous compounds from research into development, brings extensive drug discovery and leadership experience to Basilea and we are delighted to have her on board."

In addition to its development group and a supply chain group headed by Dr. Heinze-Krauss, Basilea has expanded research by its chemistry unit in China and additional hiring in Basel. Since founded three years ago, Basilea brought three compounds into later stages of clinical development, by focusing on execution and fully integrating research and development.

Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd is an emerging biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, actively engaged in the discovery and development of innovative drugs for the treatment of bacterial infections, fungal infections and skin diseases associated with high unmet medical needs. Basilea was founded in 2000 as a F. Hoffman-La Roche spin-off with the assets to achieve the business objective of bringing innovative medicines to the market.

The press release can be downloaded from the following link: http://hugin.info/134390/R/934232/128769.pdf

For further information: mail to:information@basileapharma.com

Investor information: Mr. Sean Wells mail to:sean.wells @basileapharma.com

Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd Grenzacherstrasse 487 CH- 4058 Basel Switzerland