June 8, 2006: Company and People Notes

Company News

AbemarleCorporation (Baton Rouge, LA, www.albemarle.com)will increase the price of itsbulk ibuprofen by 40% for markets outside of the United States, WesternEurope, and Japan effective immediately, or as contracts allow.According to the company, the price increase is needed to help offsetthe significant price increases in raw materials and energy.

Fine chemicals distributor Aceto Corporation (Lake Sucess, NY, www.aceto.com)announced that its board of directors authorized an investment inIndia for the purchase or construction of a facility in or near Mumbai,India. This facility will be financed entirely from cash on hand andwill expand Aceto's capabilities in servicing the globalpharmaceutical industry by establishing Indian headquarters. Theheadquarters willhouse pharmaceutical quality control, qualityassurance, and analytical laboratories, and will also serve as thecompany's Indian logistics center. This facility also will supplyquality and analytical services in support of other Aceto operationsworldwide. In addition, the company formed Aceto Pharma Corp. to marketfinished dosage form pharmaceuticals, both chemical andbiopharmaceutical, under its own brand.

BioStorageTechnologies (Indianapolis, IN, www.biostoragetech.com)and Sentry Logistic Solutions(Indianapolis, IN, www.sentrylogistic.com) announced a strategicpartnership to deliver a full range of cold-chain logistics and storageservices to the biopharmaceutical industry. The alliance willprovide pharmaceutical and biotech companies with cold storage,shipping, and tracking solutions to support all phases of drugdevelopment.

HumanGenome Sciences, Inc. (HGS, Rockville, MD, www.hgsi.com) announcedan exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Novartis (Basel, Switzerland, www.novartis.com) forthe development and commercialization of "Albuferon"(albumin-interferon alpha 2b) for chronic hepatitis C and all otheruses. HGS and Novartis will cocommercialize the product in the UnitedStates, and Novartis will commercialize it outside the United States.HGS expects to initiate Phase III clinical development of Albuferon bythe end of 2006.

Nastech Pharmaceutical CompanyInc. (Bothell, WA, www.nastech.com) announced  an agreement withProcter & GamblePharmaceuticals, Inc. (P&G, www.pgpharma.com)to manufacture and supply PTH1-34 nasal spray for the potentialcommercialization of this investigational product for the treatment ofosteoporosis. Under terms of the supply agreement, Nastech will be theexclusive manufacturer of the PTH1-34 nasal spray for P&G and willbe responsible for the chemistry, manufacturing, and controls sectionsof the FDA regulatory submission. Nastech will manufacture theinvestigational product at its facilities and supply it to P&G.Specific financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Novartis (Basel,Switzerland, www.novartis.com)offered to acquire NeuTec Pharma plc (Manchester,UK, www.neutecpharma.com),a biopharmaceutical company specializing in hospital anti-infectiveswith several products in late-stage development. The NeuTec board ofdirectors unanimously recommended a cash offer by Novartis to acquirethe company for GPB 10.50 per share, which values NeuTec's entireissued share capital at approximately GBP 305 million (USD 569million). NeuTec shareholders expressed support and intend to acceptthe offer.

Novo Nordisk(Bagsvaerd, Denmark, www.novonordisk.com) reports that the US International Trade Commission(ITC, Washington, DC, www.usitc.gov)launched an investigation of Sanofi-Aventis's(Paris, France, http://en.sanofi-aventis.com)importation of the "OptiClik" pen system. Novo Nordisk filed acomplaint with the ITC last month alleging that OptiClik and itsmedication cartridges infringe on a Novo Nordisk US patent and unfairlyharm Novo Nordisk's efforts to produce insulin delivery devices in theUnited States. Novo Nordisk is seeking an order from the ITC excludingfurther imports of insulin cartridges for use with the OptiClik pensystem from entry into the United States. The Novo Nordisk patent ispart of a large portfolio of patents issued to Novo Nordisk coveringinsulins and insulin delivery products.

PerkinElmer,Inc. (Wellesley, MA, www.perkinelmer.com) announced the acquisition of Clinical & Analytical Service SolutionsLtd. (C&A), a scientific equipment asset and managedmaintenance company serving the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, andhealthcare markets. C&A will become a part of PerkinElmer'sOneSource service products within its laboratory services business.

Saltigo GmbH(Leverkusen, Germany, www.saltigo.com)and Ilypsa Inc. (Santa Clara,CA, www.ilypsa.com)formed a cooperation for process development, manufacturing, andclinical supply of polymeric pharmaceutical products. The dealinitially covers Ilypsa's two lead candidates ILY101 (phosphate binder)and ILY 105 (potassium binder).

People

TheSupervisory Board of Crucell N.V. (Leiden, Netherlands,

www.crucell.com

) announced that  its chairman, Pieter Strijkert,will step down and be succeeded by fellow Board member JanOosterveld. Strijkert has served as chairman ofCrucell's Supervisory Board since the company's inception. He alsoserved as chairman of the Supervisory Board of Crucell'spredecessor, IntroGene BV,from 1994 to 2000. Oosterveld joined the SupervisoryBoard in 2004 and is a member of the Boards of Barco (Belgium), Atos  Origin (France), Cookson Group (UK), and Continental (Germany).

Lee Morganwas named president of Farr AirPollution Control (APC, Jonesboro, AK, www.farrapc.com), amanufacturer of dust collection equipment for IAQ control andproduct recovery. Morgan will oversee all activities of the Farr APCoperating unit, which was consolidated and expanded to include allof North America. He joined Farr in 1997 and held a variety ofmanagement posts in the company's air pollution control business unit.

GloucesterPharmaceuticals, Inc. (Cambridge, MA, www.gloucesterpharma.com)a privately held cancer therapeutics development company, announced the appointment of Jean C.Nichols, PhD, as executive vice-president and chief scientificofficer. Nichols will play a pivotal role in the further development ofthe company's lead product, depsipeptide, for T-cell lymphomas andother oncology indications. Nichols will also participate in clinicaldevelopment, strategic business development, and collaborative researchrelationships.

Xceleron(York, UK, www.xceleron.com)named Philip Morgannonexecutive chairman of the Board. Morgan has been involved with theindustry for 35 years through business, consultancy and venture capitalincluding management and board roles with Rhône Poulenc (now partof Sanofi-Aventis), Johnson & Johnson, and C.R. Bard, respectively.

WestPharmaceutical Services (Lionville, PA, www.westpharma.com)appointed Fran DeGrazio to theposition of vice-president of marketing and strategic businessdevelopment.DeGrazio has been with West for more than 22 years and has coordinatedglobal activities in technical customer service, elastomer formuladevelopment, quality assurance, regulatory affairs, and analyticaltesting. Most recently, she served as vice-president of qualityassurance and regulatory affairs.